A Newton County woman is now facing charges after her son and another man were found dead at a home on Newton Calhoun Road in September.
Sheriff Joedy Pennington said the suspect was identified as Melissa Harris, 39, of 5568 Newton Calhoun Road in Newton. She was charged with manslaughter-culpable negligence and was issued a bond of $10,000.
Pennington said the investigation first began on Sept. 12, 2022, when deputies were dispatched for a death investigation call.
“A person came to the residence and found a man and a young child deceased at 5568 Newton Calhoun Road,” Pennington said. “The person called 911 and reported the incident.”
After deputies arrived on the scene, Donald Dwayne Toole, 36, and Harris’ child, Samuel Bostyn Harris, 4, were found dead at the residence. Harris was also taken to a hospital for medical examination. Upon her release, Pennington said they took her into custody for questioning and for violations from drug court order pertaining to previous charges.
However, Pennington said they needed to complete the investigation prior to issuing any charges related to this incident.
“It’s just a horrible situation,” Pennington said. “With a case that is this sensitive and involving the deaths of two persons, we wanted to make sure that we were charging the suspect with the correct charges. We could only make that determination after we received the autopsy report back from the state.”
Pennington said the state’s report indicated the cause of death was from carbon monoxide poisoning for both victims. He did not comment on what was the suspected cause of the poisonous gas but indicated that negligence played a role in the death of the young child.
He said reports indicated that the two victims had been dead for about two days before law enforcement found them at the residence.
Pennington said the suspect has been in jail since the incident and was also issued a 13-year prison sentence last week for those previous charges.
