Mother arrested after 4-year-old daughter brings backpack full of heroin to school

Police said 249 bags of heroin weighing 3.735 grams were found inside a 4-year-old girl's backpack.

A Delaware mother was arrested after her 4-year-old daughter brought over 200 bags of heroin to school and passed them out to other children at a local daycare, according to police.

Delaware State Troopers and medics were called to the Hickory Tree Child Care Center on Hickory Tree Lane in Selbyville Monday around 11:45 a.m. Staff at the daycare told police they spotted some children with small bags of an unknown substance.

The white powdery substance inside the bags was removed by the teachers and taken to the Selbyville Police Department. Investigators determined the substance was heroin.

According to investigators, a 4-year-old girl unknowingly brought the bags of heroin to the daycare inside a backpack that her mother, identified as 30-year-old Ashley Tull, gave her. Police said Tull gave her daughter the bag after her other backpack was ruined by a family pet.

The girl passed the packets of heroin to her classmates, believing they were candy, according to investigators. Police said 249 bags of heroin weighing 3.735 grams were found inside the backpack.

Several children who came in contact with the unopened bags were taken to local hospitals as a precaution. They were later released.

Tull was apprehended by state troopers after she arrived at the daycare. She was then taken into custody after being interviewed.

She is charged with maintaining a drug property and endangering the welfare of a child. She was arraigned and released after posting $6,000 bail.

The 4-year-old girl as well as Tull's 9-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter were placed in the custody of a relative. Tull was ordered to not have any contact with her children.

Police continue to investigate the incident and said more charges could be filed.