Smiths meth lab busted, grandmother arrested

Smiths Station, Al.

Gary Lamar Henderson

Two Smiths Station residents have been arrested on drug charges and a child is in custody of the Lee County Department of Human Resources after a quantity of methamphetamine was discovered at a Lee County school on Thursday.

Gary Lamar Henderson, 45, was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance (Hydrocodone), second-degree unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia, according to Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones.

Also arrested was Sandra Dejuan Whitehead, 48, who was charged with first-degree unlawful manufacturing of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) and chemical endangerment of a child.

Sandra Dejuan Whitehead

At approximately 10:27 a.m. Thursday, an East Smiths Station Elementary School resource officer, who is also a sheriff’s deputy, was contacted concerning a third-grader who had a powdered substance packaged in a clear plastic bag. The substance tested positive as methamphetamine, said Chief Investigator Capt. Van Jackson of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies then obtained a search warrant for the Lee Road 246 residence in Smiths Station where authorities determined the third-grader lived, Jackson said.

When deputies arrived at the home, they encountered Henderson, who had Hydrocodone, marijuana and drug paraphernalia on his person. Henderson was taken into custody, Jackson said. It was also determined that Henderson shared the residence with the third-grader’s mother.

Authorities also determined that the child may have gotten the drugs from a grandmother’s residence in the 900 block of Lee Road 243, also in Smiths Station, Jackson said.

After contacting residents at that address, who consented to a search, a methamphetamine lab was located on the property and Whitehead was also arrested.

Jones did not rule out the possibility of other arrests.

“We’re still conducting the investigation and certainly do not rule out the possibility of other subjects and other charges,” Jones said.

Henderson was booked into the Lee County Detention Facility on a $5,000 bond, which he posted and was released later in the day. Whitehead was booked into the detention facility on a $38,000 bond, where she currently remains, Jackson said.