2 toddlers test positive for cocaine

By The Daily Progress Staff

Published: April 21, 2008

Two Louisa County parents are facing felony child endangerment charges after their 16-month-old son and 3-year-old son tested positive for cocaine and a prescription drug found in tranquilizers and sleeping pills.
Authorities were called to the University of Virginia Medical Center on Wednesday after the two toddlers were brought into the emergency room with symptoms of drug or alcohol intoxication.
The next day, Louisa County Sheriff’s Office detectives searched the boys’ home on Louisa Road near Zion Crossroads.
The detectives found the children’s father, Derrick Andre Christmas, 25, sitting in a van in the home’s driveway. Authorities said they searched Christmas and discovered crack cocaine, as well as a quarter-pound of marijuana and $1,600 in cash elsewhere in the vehicle.
A search of the residence turned up a number of prescription drugs.
Christmas was arrested and charged with felony drug possession and felony intent to distribute drugs. He was released on a $10,000 bond.
On Friday evening, authorities returned to the toddlers’ home and arrested the boys’ mother, Brenda Darice Quarles, 26, as well as Christmas. The two parents were both charged with two felony counts of child endangerment.
Christmas was released on $2,500 bond, while Quarles was released on $4,000 bond. They both will appear in Louisa County Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court on Friday.
The two children, along with a 3-week-old child, have been placed in the custody of social services.