Four accused of making meth with children at home plead not guilty

Four Whitley County residents pleaded not guilty Monday morning to charges of having a meth lab inside a Kensee Hollow home Saturday evening while four children were inside, and are still being held in the Whitley County Detention Center in lieu of a $75,000 cash bond.

"It was a pretty huge lab. According to the disposal team, it was one of the bigger ones they had been on in a while," said Sheriff Lawrence Hodge.

Deputies charged Obie W. Stephens, 26, of R.D. Rains Road; Bradley E. Petrey, 26, of Flatwoods Road; Ronald Dewayne Overbay, 44, and Susan Overbay 38, both of 1195 Kensee Hollow Road, with manufacture of methamphetamine and four counts first-degree wanton endangerment or one count for each child inside the home.

Hodge said that the children ranged in age from two to 12 years old.

All four children were decontaminated at the scene, and taken to Jellico Community Hospital to be checked out. They were released to the custody of social services, Hodge said.

Hodge said that his department started getting intelligence about the lab nearly two weeks ago, and that he arranged for a confidential informant to make a control buy Saturday.

Initially officers planned to obtain a search warrant, but after learning from the informant that children were inside the home, Hodge said they decided to do a "knock and talk" instead about 8 p.m. at the 1195 Kensee Hollow Road residence.

"As soon as I stepped up on the porch, the chemical smell was strong enough to knock you down," Hodge said.

Hodge said that someone at the home had previously cut a hole in a closet and previously set up a marijuana growing room in the ceiling, which was now being used to make the meth.

"I went in there and stuck my head up in there and told them to come on down," Hodge said. "When one of them came down, he was carrying two meth labs that were cooking. I took them and ran outside."

He said the lab used a one-step cooking process known as "shake and bake."

Hodge said he called for a Kentucky State Police disposal team to clean up the lab, but that it was too big for them to handle.

State police contacted the DEA, which arranged for one of its private contractors from Louisville to clean up the lab.
Officers were on the scene until about 7 a.m. Sunday.

All four adults were arrested without incident and lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center.

District Judge Cathy Prewitt entered a not guilty plea on their behalves during their arraignments Monday morning, and scheduled a March 1 preliminary hearing in their cases.

Hodge said there was another woman at the residence, who was babysitting the children and wasn’t charged.

He said police would leave it up to a grand jury to decide whether the babysitter should also face charges.

Hodge said that his office has been getting a few calls about meth labs lately, and he hopes this doesn’t mean there is a resurgence of them in Whitley County.

Deputies Adam Jarboe, Dorman Patrick, Brett Reeves, Alan Onkst and Ronnie Bowling assisted with the investigation.