Henry Daily Herald

McDONOUGH — Henry County police said a woman smoking marijuana inside her Stockbridge home early Wednesday morning brought officers right to her door when she called 911 to report a possible prowler.

Police said when Sherita Leslie Cotton opened her door to responding officers, a strong odor of marijuana wafted out of the home. Cotton, 28, was charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

Police also charged her with two counts of cruelty to children in the second degree when officers discovered her two sons sleeping inside the home while she allegedly smoked. Officers also said the Nova Circle home was “filthy” and infested with roaches.

Social workers with the Henry County Department of Family and Children’s Services took the boys into custody. Cotton is being held in the Henry County Jail on $1,500 bond.

In other court action:

• A Tampa, Fla., man who was a passenger in a car stopped for speeding on southbound I-75 has been charged with 22 counts of financial identity fraud. Police arrested Crosby Jean Baptiste, 26, Wednesday at 9:22 p.m. near exit 211 in Locust Grove.

The officer said he smelled burnt marijuana and got permission to search the vehicle. Baptiste was a backseat passenger and claimed ownership to a suitcase police found during the search, said police. Inside the suitcase were 22 debit cards issued by H&R Block as tax refunds. The cards were issued to different people with various Social Security numbers and dates of birth, said police.

Baptiste allegedly denied ownership of the cards but police said his own name was on one of them. He is being held on $100,000 bond. Court records show he has prior arrests in Florida and Tennessee.

• A Griffin woman is being held on $7,500 bond for allegedly stealing a medical laptop during her doctor’s appointment. Hampton police said Candius Dawn Jones, 31, was getting an X-ray Sept. 7 at Wellness Medicine Center in Hampton when she allegedly took the laptop.

Detective Art Sparks said Jones was sent to a room where the laptop was to put her bra back on after the exam. After she left, workers discovered the theft, said police. Health care officials at the center told police the computer was equipped with a $28,000 medical testing program.

Police went to Jones’ home, where she allegedly admitted the theft and returned the laptop.

Court records show she was out on $4,000 bond on a July 24 arrest in Clayton County for shoplifting.

• A Griffin parolee, out of state prison less than a year, has been arrested and charged with giving a false name, theft by receiving stolen property and driving on a suspended license.

Joel Robert Mavergames, 34, has been in and out of state prison six times since 1997, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. He was most recently released on parole in October after serving less than a year for a theft by taking conviction in Clayton County. He is to serve parole until February 2015.

His passenger, Jheri Marcelle Godfrey, 21, was charged with theft by receiving stolen property and possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. Her case was also bound over without a hearing. She is being held on $3,500 bond.

• An Ellenwood Family Dollar employee on the job less than two months was arrested for allegedly stealing from the discount department store. Corliss Alice Johnson, 20, is being held on $1,050 bond. Police said she took a store gift card and put money on it without paying for it. Johnson reportedly is on probation for a prior felony theft conviction.

She was arrested in May in Gwinnett County for violation of probation, according to records. Police said Johnson was fired at the time of her arrest. Jail records show Johnson is covered in a variety of tattoos, including ones on her wrists that read “Live Fast” and “Dream Big,” and one on her stomach that continues around to her back that reads “Let the beauty we love become the good we do.”