Juvenile allegedly left residence during party, walked onto Highway 76

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

Two individuals have been charged with a felony after a toddler was found wandering in the middle of Highway 76 south of Cassville.

Skyla Beck, 24, and Tyler Swadley, 24, both of Cassville, are each charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

According to a probable cause statement filed by Cpl. C. Bray, with the Barry County Sheriff’s Office, on Aug. 3, Beck and Swadley were inside their residence having a party with friends and other neighbors. While inside the residence, a juvenile child under the age of 4 was allegedly able to exit the residence through a west-facing exterior door and proceeded to walk to Highway 76, about 50 yards from the residence.

The juvenile then walked onto Highway 76 in the middle of the roadway during high levels of traffic. According to Beck, she did not realize the child was missing for approximately 6 minutes, and according to Swadley, he did not realize the child was missing.

According to a witness, the juvenile was seen standing on the center double yellow line of Highway 76, and both northbound and southbound lanes of traffic were stopped.

Bray said in the statement Beck and Swadley pose a danger to the juvenile because the child was in immediate danger of sustaining serious physical injury or death. Also, due to Beck’s and Swadley’s alleged negligence, the incident caused a major traffic violation to the motoring public, and luckily, there were no injuries.

Beck and Swadley were booked into the Barry County jail at about 5:50 p.m. on Aug. 3, and both their initial bonds were set at $100,000 each, cash only. They have each been arraigned and pleaded not guilty, and bond hearings were held on Thursday in the courtroom of Judge Robert Foulke. 

Beck’s bond was modified to $50,000, cash only. 

Swadley was denied bond modification.