A Mills, Wyoming, couple face felony child endangerment charges after investigators reported finding a cracked meth pipe in a child’s crib, baby formula in a box beside it and two firearms beneath a bed during a search of a their home.
Meghan Landrie Pfrimmer and Aaron James Young each face two counts of child endangerment involving meth and fentanyl, along with five counts of possession of a controlled substance, including meth, fentanyl and marijuana.
Both were born in 2004, and their cases stem from an afternoon disturbance at a home on North Sixth Avenue on Sept. 17, when a man told officers Young had threatened to shoot him and Pfrimmer’s infant son.
What began as a report of threats and an attempted bicycle theft led officers into a bedroom where investigators documented suspected drug residue and paraphernalia on furniture, inside containers and in the child’s sleeping area.
“Inside the child’s crib was a brown box with a Beech-Nut box inside of it,” Mills Police Officer Arianah Plorin wrote in an affidavit supporting the charges. “In the first brown box was a cracked meth pipe.”
The smaller box contained baby formula.
Pfrimmer’s son was born last year, the affidavit shows.
She was bound over to Natrona County District Court on the felony charges Tuesday, while Young has a preliminary hearing set for Sept. 29.
Bicycle Trouble
Plorin responded about 1 p.m. on the day of the complaint after a report that a man who had been told to leave the residence went outside, tried to steal a bicycle and returned inside, possibly carrying a gun.
The caller reported a threat to shoot her boyfriend, according to the affidavit.
When Plorin arrived, four people were outside speaking with Cpl. Justin Buchholz, who placed one man in handcuffs.
That man told officers he had gone into the home and encountered Young with a black Glock fitted with a light and an extended magazine.
Young “threatened to shoot him and to shoot the child,” Plorin wrote, recounting the man’s allegation.
Young told officers the other man also had a Glock in his waistband.
The man said he had seen a small bag containing blue pills on the ground next to the baby, then during a consent search, Buchholz found four small blue pills in the man’s front left pants pocket.
The man said he had gotten the pills from inside the home and described them as Young’s remaining fentanyl. He also said Young still had meth in the house, Plorin wrote.
Outside, Buchholz reported seeing "fentanyl paraphernalia" in plain view on the back seat of a white GMC Terrain.
Diaper Change, Gun
During a sweep of the home, officers found Pfrimmer’s grandmother, who appeared confused about what was happening. They helped her outside and seated her in Plorin’s patrol vehicle with the door open.
Pfrimmer then told another officer her son had urinated through his diaper and needed to be changed. Plorin wrote that he escorted her and her son into the residence and "kept eyes on M. Pfrimmer."
While she changed the child, Plorin spotted a Glock protruding from beneath the bed. It had a light and an extended magazine, matching the description the man outside had given of the gun Young had.
Then Plorin escorted the mother and child back outside and sought a warrant to search the residence, the GMC Terrain and a Kia Sportage.
Buchholz contacted Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents to help search the home.
While waiting for the agents, officers searched the vehicles. Inside the GMC, Buchholz found a Glock-style BB gun wedged between the driver’s seat and center console, the affidavit says.
He also found a large glass bong with stickers around its neck, a small straight glass pipe with burnt residue and multiple small clear bags.
Crib, Formula, Contraband
When DCI agents arrived, Plorin and Special Agent Phillip Houser searched what appeared to be the grandmother’s bedroom.
Her walker was there, and officers had seen her come out of the room earlier. They found nothing there, the affidavit says.
Agents Decker and Pashke searched the room identified as Pfrimmer’s, where investigators found her wallet, firearms and the child’s sleeping area.
The affidavit describes a bedroom where suspected drug residue and paraphernalia occupied surfaces and storage spaces around the bed and crib.
On the air conditioner, agents found a meth pipe with burnt residue, a purple container, and a clear container holding meth residue.
A purple backpack on the bed contained a scale.
Beside the air conditioner stood a black plastic dresser containing multiple small clear bags. On the bottom shelf of the television stand, agents reported finding a black glass meth pipe with residue and another pipe made of clear glass.
A black case contained THC wax. A black chest held a clear jar with meth residue, a gallon-size plastic bag containing more small bags and a white scale, according to the affidavit.
Inside a black clipboard holder appeared to be a broken glass pipe.
Under the bed were two firearms: a Glock 17 fitted with a light and an extended magazine, and another gun identified in the affidavit as a G Force Arms.
Inside the crib, investigators reported finding the brown box containing the cracked meth pipe and the smaller box holding baby formula.
After detailing the discovery inside the crib, Plorin wrote that Pashke said all the drug paraphernalia was “at least 2 feet away” from the crib and near the baby’s food.
Plorin contacted the Wyoming Department of Family Services and requested that an agent take protective custody of the child. An agent arrived, and Plorin briefed her on the investigation.
Pat-Down Confession
DCI agents had information that Pfrimmer kept drugs in her vehicle’s engine compartment, too. There, they found a lanyard with a blue container hanging from it — inside were multiple blue pills, says the affidavit.
Buchholz and Plorin arrested Pfrimmer and Young.
Young told officers he did not live at the home, and Pfrimmer said he had been staying there for about a month. Investigators reported finding men’s clothing in her bedroom and a prescription bottle bearing Young’s name.
During a pat-down, Plorin asked Pfrimmer whether she had anything concealed inside her body. She initially said no.
“A few moments later, M. Pfrimmer advised me that she did have something inside of her,” Plorin wrote.
She told DCI agents it was a small bag containing 2 grams of meth, the affidavit says.
Separate Court Dates
Young posted a $6,000 surety bond last Thursday. He appeared in court Tuesday and is represented by public defender Kurt Infanger.
Pfrimmer’s case was bound over to district court following her preliminary hearing Tuesday. Her bond was reduced from $6,000 to $3,000 cash or surety.
Her attorney, Steve Mink, has filed a demand for a speedy trial.
If convicted on all seven counts and given consecutive maximum sentences, Pfrimmer and Young would each face up to 15 years behind bars.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
