A child found a loaded pistol and fired it inside a Jacksonville home, and now two adults are sitting in the Onslow County Detention Center facing a stack of felony charges.
According to arrest warrants, Jacksonville residents Corrie Cox, 30, and Tiara Sharp, 28, were arrested on June 13 after investigators say children in the home had access to the gun and one of them pulled the trigger. Warrants state there were two children in the home, ages 10 and 12. Cox is being held on a secured bond of $60,000 and Sharp on a secured bond of $30,000.
Arrests and Charges
When officers searched the home, investigators say they found marijuana along with scales, large plastic containers and plastic bags commonly associated with distribution. Cox and Sharp were each charged with felony possession of marijuana, possession with intent to manufacture, sell or deliver marijuana, two counts of exposing a child to a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile, according to WCTI.
What Investigators Allege
Arrest warrants state that children in the home had access to the loaded pistol and that "one of the children later fired the pistol while inside the home." Both defendants are scheduled to appear in Onslow County court on Monday, June 15, WCTI reported.
Legal Implications
North Carolina has a specific statute that makes "exposing a child to a controlled substance" a felony. Under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14‑318.7, the grading ranges from a Class H felony for exposure up to Class B1 in the most serious cases where ingestion leads to death. The law also sets out higher felony levels if a child ingests the substance or suffers serious physical injury, so the counts listed in the warrants carry the potential for significant penalties. The full breakdown appears in the statute at the N.C. General Statutes.
Broader Context
Prosecutors around the state have already started to lean on the updated law this year. In March, Bladen County charged two adults after hair-follicle testing indicated children had been exposed to methamphetamine and cocaine, an example of how the statute is being used beyond Onslow County, according to The Charlotte Observer. Cases like that, along with the Jacksonville warrants, show that drug exposure in homes with minors is being treated as its own serious offense, separate from standard possession or trafficking counts.
Cox and Sharp remain in custody while the Onslow County court calendar moves forward. Future court filings will show whether prosecutors seek formal indictments on the felony charges listed in the arrest warrants.
