Meth baby placed in care of dad's mom

STANTON, Mich. (WOOD) - One day before his first birthday, Steven Rish Jr. is caught in the middle of a shocking meth bust.

The baby was at a Sidney home last Wednesday when his grandmother and four others were caught with methamphetamine and materials to make it. Later, some of the meth turned up in his diaper.

Steven was taken into custody of Child Protective Services after the raid, despite the fact that he and his mother, Katrina Compo, were living in the home and Compo said she knew nothing of any meth production or use.

The grandmother, Lorri Compo, and her boyfriend, Roman Sobie, are being held at the Montcalm County jail pending those drug charges.

About an hour after the raid, Steven was released into the custody of his paternal grandmother, Kandi Witter-Hardy.

It was Witter-Hardy who changed Steven's diaper and found the unthinkable: a baggie of methamphetamine.

Katrina Compo said she believes the meth could have been put there when she answered the door, right before the raid. It could have been Sobie, she added. But exactly where the drugs were placed is unknown. The meth could have been put inside the diaper or inside the child.

"I mean, Steven didn't ask for this, and that's the sad part," Witter-Hardy said Tuesday.

She was shocked when she learned of the drug bust.

"When they told me why (Steven) was getting removed from the home, I mean, if I would have had an Adams apple, it would have just went to my stomach," Witter-Hardy said.

She vowed to protect Steven from further harm.

"I'm gonna do whatever I have to do," Witter-Hardy said. "I've got to guard him as much as I can while I do have him.

"I don't want to overstep my boundaries, but I gotta protect my grandson."

Her next challenge will be telling her son - Steven's father - about the incident. Her son is in prison in Ionia.

"Because I know there's nothing my son can do for his son, and I know he wants to," Witter-Hardy said.

24 Hour News 8 obtained documents from a Montcalm County courtroom citing a drug test Steven had in the hospital. Blood and urine tests show the baby tested negative for controlled substances, according to a Child Protective Services report.

Sobie is incarcerated in jail in lieu of a $10,000 cash or surety bond. He was arraigned last week on a separate charge of possession of cocaine, according to Michigan State Police records.

Lorri Compo is in jail in lieu of a $25,000 cash or surety bond. She was arraigned last week on use of cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstacy charges and maintaining a drug house.