Burnsville Woman Charged with Drug Possession, Child Endangerment

A Burnsville woman has been charged with felony drug possession and child neglect and endangerment after police say they found numerous drugs, needles and a gun scattered around her “very dirty” apartment.

Shauntel Lee Brooks, 20, faces a felony charge of fifth-degree drug possession, which has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. She is also charged with child neglect and child endangerment, each of which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.

According to the criminal complaint, agents with the Dakota County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant on Brooks’ apartment in the 1400 block of West 143rd Street on Nov. 17.  

Authorities sought the search warrant after Tyler Michael Howie Ross, 22, the father of Brooks’ 16-month-old child, was arrested Nov. 6 and charged with drug possession and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Both Brooks and Ross were home at the time the search warrant was executed, the complaint says, along with their baby daughter. The apartment was “full of garbage and very dirty,” according to the complaint.

Scattered around the apartment on the floor and within easy reach of the baby were a firearm, “multiple items” of drug paraphernalia, numerous hypodermic needles, heroin, LSD, ecstasy, marijuana and cocaine, the complaint charges.

When officers arrived, Ross told them, “Everything is mine; it’s all me,” according to the complaint, telling agents that he uses the needles to inject heroin.

Agents found a plastic bag containing cocaine residue on the dresser in the baby’s bedroom, according to the complaint.

Ross was pulled over Nov. 6 in Savage after police found him apparently watching houses in a cul-de-sac. He was subsequently charged with third- and fifth-degree drug possession, along with being a felon in possession of a firearm and driving with a revoked license.

Ross was convicted in 2009 of fifth-degree drug possession and faces a mandatory minimum two-year sentence on the third-degree drug possession charge and a mandatory minimum six months for the fifth-degree drug possession charge.