Red Bay parents face chemical endangerment charges

RED BAY — Parents of three children are facing three counts of chemical endangerment of a child after two children from the same apartment were found to test positive for methamphetamines in their system, according to Police Chief Janna Jackson.

Christopher Payton, 39, and Chasidy Embrey, 26, were arrested on Thursday and booked into the Franklin County Jail.

Police were notified on April 15 by the Franklin County Department of Human Resources that it was investigating a report of a smell of meth coming from an apartment at Village Green Apartments where three minor children lived, Jackson said.

After DHR did a hair follicle test on two of the three children, the results came back as testing positive for meth.

Police then went to the apartment on Thursday and arrested Payton and Embrey.

The children were removed from the apartment by DHR representatives.

Payton was also charged by a Franklin County grand jury with unlawful possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia after an indictment was returned in September 2022.

The Franklin County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion on Friday to revoke Payton’s bond regarding 2022 case.

Payton’s trial for the 2022 case is scheduled for June 9.

Embry was released from the jail on the same day she was arrested on a $3,000 bond, according to jail records.