A Clarksville woman whose son died in a 2021 accident in which her girlfriend was driving under the influence of narcotics has been arrested almost exactly one year after that deadly accident on a number of drug-related charges in Washington County.
Mikayla Ragsdale knowingly allowed Alexandria Suarez, then 23, to operate a vehicle in which her son was riding while she was selling plasma at a Russellville blood center on May 24, 2021. Saurez crashed head-on into another vehicle and five-year-old Josiah Garcia was killed and another child was seriously injured in the wreck.
Suarez, who has a history of felonious behavior, was eventually arrested and took a guilty plea, and was sentenced to five years in prison on a Manslaughter charge with another 108 months set to run consecutively for three separate drug charges. She had previously served time in prison for breaking and entering, fraudulent use of a credit card, and theft of property.
She is currently serving her sentence at the McPherson Unit in Newport with a parole-eligible date of May 31, 2023. Since going to prison she has racked up four major disciplinary sanctions for Battery, Lying to a Staff Member, Out of Place Assignment, and Sexual Activity. During her previous prison stint, Suarez notched twenty-one disciplinary violations.
Ragsdale, who defended Suarez on social media after the accident and made misleading claims to investigators during the initial part of the investigation, was not charged with child neglect or anything related to her son's death. She was later taken to court by the father of another one of her children in an effort to gain sole custody of the child.
Ragsdale was arrested by officers with the Washington County Sheriff's Office on Thursday and charged with Drug Trafficking, Possession of Schedule I or II with the Purpose to Deliver, and two counts of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
According to booking information from the WCSO, Ragsdale was released on a $15,000 bond after a hearing on Friday. She also has a pending charge from February of this year for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia in Johnson County.
Noth9ng on her case has been posted to Arkansas Court Connect as of the publication of this article.
