A Virginia second grade teacher sentenced to two years in prison for having drugs at school and being intoxicated in class took her child with her to buy drugs just a few days before she was arrested, prosecutors said.
On May 16, 2024, Candyce Carter had her husband take drugs to her at Spotswood Elementary School in Spotsylvania County, prosecutors said.
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WATCH HEREStaff found her behaving erratically and lying on the floor of her classroom, with a bag of drugs nearby, prosecutors said.
“That’s not something that just goes away,” said Stacey Linkenhoker, the mother of one of the students in the class. “It’s not something he’ll be able to forget.”
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SIGN UP “He asked me if she would rather do drugs than be his teacher, and that was not an easy question to answer,” she said.
A few days before, Carter took her 2-year-old child with her to buy cocaine and fentanyl, prosecutors said.
On the day of her arrest, school staff also found Carter’s husband, Kristopher Carter, unconscious in the parking lot with their child in the car, prosecutors said.
Paramedics revived him with Narcan and evaluated all the students in the class to make sure they hadn’t been exposed to the drugs.
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“She could’ve potentially killed a child,” Linkenhoker said. “That’s not easy to reconcile as a mother.”
Candyce Carter pleaded guilty in February to 19 felonies, including possession of drugs and child endangerment. Kristopher Carter also pleaded guilty to child endangerment and distribution of drugs.
With several Spotswood Elementary teachers in court Friday, a judge sentenced the Carters each to about two years in prison.
The Carters both apologized in court for their actions, with Kristopher Carter saying he feels “completely ashamed” and Candyce Carter saying there are no words to take away the stress she caused to the community.
“As a human being, I have a lot of empathy for her, and I hope she does stay in recovery and I hope she did learn from this situation,” Linkenhoker said.
Spotswood Elementary’s principal told the judge it’s been tough to recruit teachers ever since the incident and they're working to assure families it’s still a safe place to send their kids.
The Carters have separated, defense attorneys said, and both have been attending addiction treatment programs and taking on leadership roles there.
The Spotsylvania County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office told News4 it believes exposing fentanyl to children in school merits a tougher sentence, but it was up to the court to decide.
