Conditional discharge after mother pleads to drug possession
By Delon Shurtz - Lethbridge Herald on May 14, 2022.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDdshurtz@lethbridgeherald.com When police responded to a report in January 2021 that an SUV was stuck in a snowdrift on 36 Street North in Lethbridge, they found the driver and passenger passed out in the front seats.Sitting in the back seat of the vehicle, amongst drugs and alcohol, was a baby.
After being woken by police, the passenger, Jenna Fix had to shake the drooling and snoring driver to wake him. Police initially noticed a piece of burned tinfoil on the floor in front of the driver’s seat, burned tinfoil between the driver’s seat and centre console, and a small baggie of fentanyl between his legs.
After the couple was removed from the vehicle, officers found more drugs and paraphernalia, including a baggie of fentanyl, tinfoil and lighters. While searching Fix, they found a small bag of fentanyl residue in her waistband.
Inside the vehicle police found a straw used for smoking fentanyl, more tinfoil, baggies, and 1.4 grams of methamphetamine in the centre console and 0.1 grams of fentanyl on the driver’s seat. Four unknown pills were found inside a duffel bag on the floor behind the front seats, and bottles of alcohol were found on the back seat.
Fix pleaded guilty Friday in Lethbridge provincial court to charges of drug possession and causing a child to be in need of intervention under the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act. Her spouse, Joshua Montana Jones, was charged with drug possession and impaired driving. His charges are set to be spoken to on May 31 at the case management office at the Lethbridge Courthouse.
Fix was given a 12-month conditional discharge, during which she will be on probation and must take counselling for substance abuse, as well as for parenting and life skills. She is also prohibited from possessing and consuming alcohol and drugs, and she is not, except through a third party, to have any contact with Jones who, Fix noted, no longer lives with her.
Crown Prosecutor Kristi Adams pointed out the child is still under a temporary guardianship order, and said Fix expressed shame and guilt for placing her son in such circumstances.
“It sounds like he will, at some point, be returned to Miss Fix, and the case worker indicated that since January of this year she’s aware that the accused has made very positive steps, including moving back in with her parents, completing treatment; all of which was initiated by the accused,” Adams told court.
Duty counsel lawyer Brett Carlson confirmed that Fix has been working with Children and Family Services, and has completed various parenting programs. She also continues to attend counseling and Narcotics Anonymous twice a week, and she is also under the care of a physician for ADHD and depression.
“She has done essentially everything that we would want her to do in terms of recovering from this circumstance; getting herself clean, keeping herself clean, getting help with her other mental health issues, working with Children and Family Services to get the child back,” Carlson said. Follow @DShurtzHerald on Twitter 4
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