LINCOLN COUNTY – Six individuals were arrested early Wednesday morning on murder charges in connection with the death of a 7-weekold baby who had been exposed to methamphetamine and fentanyl, along with suffering physical abuse.

Last week, a grand jury indicted four family members in the infant’s death — Parents Selena Rodriguez and Gabriel Clark as well as the child’s grandma, Shawna Walton and uncle Dillon Clark. Evan and Adam Hausermann, who were living in the single wide trailer with the Clarks and Walton, were also indicted and arrested.

All six are facing various charges, but Lincoln County Prosecutor Mike Wood said all of them were arrested for second degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death. Both charges are Class A felonies, carrying a penalty of 10 years to life.

All six suspects are being held at the Lincoln County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

“This tragedy has deeply affected our community and my office will pursue justice for Ty’Ann to the fullest extent of the law,” Wood said. “These indictments reflect the result of months of hard work and collaboration among law enforcement, forensic experts, and child protection advocates.”

On the morning of Aug. 19, a 911 call was placed at 9:31 a.m. about an unresponsive infant to the area of Charlotte Drive in rural Lincoln County. Chief Deputy Randy Lambert of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office previously told the Journal that Ty’Ann was taken to a nearby hospital and died at 11:05 a.m. the same day.

“A very sad situation. No one likes for something like this to happen,” Lambert said.

According to Heavin, the baby had been with Gabe, Shawna, Evan, Dylan, and Adam for the week before living in the trailer. The infant had multiple wounds indicating prior history of physical abuse per the coroner’s report, specifically broken ribs and brain bleeds. Additional charges of child abuse and neglect against the parents are expected.

Heavin aid the primary cause of death was methamphetamine intoxication with fentanyl exposure and physical trauma, including asphyxiation, contributing to her death.

While there were lethal doses of both drugs, there were higher amounts of methamphetamines according to Heavin. Exposure to the drugs alone can be deadly with contact being as simple as drug dust on the pacifier or clothing. Additionally, a drug operation at the home was quite possible due to large amounts of drugs.

“Whether it was on the baby’s bottle, whether it was on something that they had eaten, there was just generalized exposure through the skin,” Wood said. “The amount of fentanyl that was there leads us to believe that there was some type of activity regarding further distribution.”

Wood said there was fentanyl found in every room of the trailer where five of the six individuals lived.

“The mother…was not living in that home at the time but evidence shows that she did have knowledge that there was drug use in the home,” Wood said.

Heavin believes the infant was likely dead three to six hours before law enforcement was contacted.

Going forward, Wood says there will be “zero tolerance” for drug use around children.

In addition, he notes the impact and implications of the opioid and cannot emphasize enough how dangerous and deadly it can be. Wood says this tragic case serves as a reminder and a warning to not engage with illegal drugs.

“I want to be clear that the purpose of us going as hard as we did is because we want to send the message that fentanyl use is inherently lethal,” Wood said. “When we talk about our zero tolerance policy, it won’t simply be manslaughter. It won’t simply be a possession charge. It’ll be the full extent of the law.”