DOCUMENT: Crime

Meth User Tried To Sell Child For $2500

Kentuckian peddled 4-y-o outside Speedy Mart

AUGUST 20--A Kentucky man has copped to trying to sell his girlfriend’s child for $2500 outside a convenience store.

According to police, a tipster called 911 around 1:20 AM Sunday to report that a male suspect approached two individuals and offered to sell them the four-year-old child (who was with the man at a Speedy Mart in Corbin, a city in the state’s southeastern corner).

Witnesses provided Kentucky State Police officers with the license plate of the suspect’s white Nissan, which led them to a home about five miles away. Inside, they found the child, his mother Gertrude Hinson, 26, and Harry Day, 29.

During questioning, Day and Hinson reportedly admitted to using methamphetamine earlier in the day. A search of the residence turned up meth and drug paraphernalia, cops say. Additionally, Day had visible track marks that were still bleeding.

Since Day had driven back to Hinson’s residence from the Speedy Mart (seen below), police administered a field sobriety test, which Day failed.

Day was arrested and charged with promoting human trafficking, DUI, and two vehicular counts. Hinson was charged with meth possession, endangering the welfare of a child, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both were booked into the Knox County jail, where Hinson is being held on $5000 bond in advance of an August 25 District Court hearing.

During his initial court appearance Monday, Day wasted no time copping to the felony trafficking charge, for which he was sentenced to 360 days in custody. The DUI count was dropped as part of a plea deal.

The child Day sought to sell--apparently for drug money--was the product of a prior relationship of Hinson’s. While the juvenile was initially placed in the custody of child welfare workers, it is unclear who is now caring for the child.