WBMS teacher fired in connection with teen's death

A female Winder-Barrow Middle School teacher was fired at 5:39 p.m. today because of her arrest Wednesday in connection with the suspected drug-related death of a Winder teenager. Barrow County school superintendent Wanda Creel released a statement at 6:10 p.m. confirming the arrest and the teacher's termination.

Emily Smith Jones, who taught sixth-grade math, had worked for the school system for 14 years.

According to the school superintendent's statement, the teacher was criminally charged with distribution/solicitation with an electronic device, reckless conduct, and criminal intent to distribute methadone.

Creel said the teacher “is no longer an employee with the Barrow County School System.”

An ethics complaint also is being filed against the teacher with the Georgia Professional Standards Commission.

Sheriff Jud Smith told the Barrow Journal on Thursday night that the teacher was allowed to turn herself in so that the middle school students would not have to witness her arrest. He said Jones spent about six hours in the Barrow County Detention Center and was released the same day on an $8,000 bond.

The sheriff said the alleged victim was 18 years old and a 2012 graduate of Winder-Barrow High School. She died a couple of weeks ago in her sleep. She was an acquaintance of the suspect and in the past had been a babysitter for the teacher's child, the sheriff said.

Based on the investigation so far, it does not appear that Jones was distributing drugs on school grounds, he added.