JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local mom says a vendor at the “Bring em out Duval” fashion show gave her daughter a dessert with marijuana in it. The day ended with a trip to the hospital.
Vanessa Merriweather says her 17-year-old daughter has dreams of designing clothes. Over the weekend, she volunteered at the fashion show hosted at WJCT studios.
“This was supposed to be for professional experience for her, so something she can add to her resume,” said Merriweather.
The 17-year-old teen and her mother aren’t the only ones making these claims.
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The fashion designer, Kenjulia Anderson, who the teen was volunteering for at the event, said they were offered treats from “The Swookie Cookie” at the show. Both of them started to experience abnormal symptoms and went to the emergency room. They showed Action News Jax toxicology documents that indicate a positive result for marijuana or cannabis.
“She did tell me that her heart was beating, it was hurting, and then I felt the chest and heart boom, boom, and boom,” Meriweather said, describing the chaos at the event.
In a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office police report, it says, “...the complainant provided the website www.theswookiecookie.com associated with the business."
We asked Merriweather if her daughter would have received the drug anywhere else.
“No, you will have to hold her down to give her an injection. Any kind of medicine. So no, she’s not a drug person, period,” Merriweather said.
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Anderson says she also ate the dessert offered by the business owner.
“She approaches me and she asks me if I would like to try a sample of her Swookie Cookie. She said that it was an organic cookie that was made with sweet potatoes,” Anderson said.
Shortly after, she says she started experiencing cotton mouth, dizziness and numbness.
“I start feeling a little dizzy. My mouth and my lips kind of start numbing up and so I’m like okay, well you know this isn’t normal this isn’t okay. So I didn’t know whether I was about to pass out,” Anderson said.
She went to the Emergency Room too and showed us documents that say she has “accidental marijuana poisoning”.
She says other vendors complained to the project manager after hearing about what happened.
“She had informed them that they that she had infused desserts under her table if they wanted to have some,” Anderson said.
I reached out to the business owner of The Swookie Cookie, Detra Earnest, who did not want to show her face on camera but agreed to speak with Action News Jax in an interview.
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We asked if she had desserts with marijuana, THC or cannabis with her at the event.
“I did not have any at the event this past weekend,” Earnest said.
We followed up and asked if she made desserts with marijuana, THC or cannabis.
She responded, “no.”
We also asked her about claims of her having “infused desserts” under her vending table.
“When I say infused, I mean infused with sweet potatoes and I have another chocolate overload which is infused with diamond with not diamond but gold edible flakes. That’s what I mean,” Earnest said.
The ‘Bring em out Duval’ fashion show organizer posted this statement to Facebook following the event:
We are aware of an incident involving a guest during Sunday’s event.
First and foremost, our thoughts are with the young lady and her family, and we sincerely hope she is doing well.
At this time, there are many different accounts of what may have occurred. Because the matter involves a minor, and because the facts have not been fully established, it would be inappropriate for us to speculate or make accusations.
As the event organizer, I was not present during the interaction between the guest and the vendor, as I was backstage managing the production. The vendor participated in the event as a bakery vendor, and no cannabis-infused products were disclosed on the vendor application or communicated to us prior to the event.
We take the safety of every guest seriously. If any vendor failed to disclose products that should have been disclosed, that matter will be addressed appropriately.
Out of respect for everyone involved, we will not comment further on unverified claims while the facts are being clarified.
Thank you to everyone who attended and supported the event. We remain committed to providing a safe and positive experience for our community.
We also reached out to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to ask if this is an active investigation. They told me they will share updates from the narcotics unit.
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