A Texas mom has been arrested after providing vodka Jell-O shots for an elementary school Christmas party last year.
Teresa Isabel Bernal, 33, was booked into the Smith County Jail on Monday for reckless bodily injury to a child. She posted bail on a $75,000 bond and was released the same day.
According to police information obtained by KLTV, Bernal brought the shots to Jones Elementary in Tyler on December 20 for her daughter’s fifth-grade party. She later told investigators that she did not know they contained alcohol.
She only noticed the blue, red and green shots topped with whipped cream and strawberries were spiked after some of the children ate them.
About 20 minutes into the party, two teachers also tried the shots and notified the fifth-grade teacher that they thought the cups had contained alcohol. After trying one of the shots, the teacher said it was hard to tell but threw away the remaining shots as a precaution.
All of the children who consumed the shots were checked by a school nurse. Police said nearly all of the kids reported having stomach aches and headaches. One boy said he threw up twice that day and another said he “passed out” after consuming six shots.
A parent who picked up their child from the school told police their kid was acting strange and “passed out” on the floor at home.
The school’s assistant principal later informed the Tyler Independent School District police about the spiked treats.
Bernal told police she purchased the Jell-O shots from a sweet shop run out of a private home. The owner of the business told police the treats contained vodka but thought Bernal had intentionally purchased alcoholic shots.
The owner showed police a screenshot of text messages between them and Bernal showing the woman inquiring about whether the shots contained alcohol. The owner replied that they did and asked why, to which Bernal replied “kids”.
Police lab tests confirmed the shots contained alcohol.
