Meth charges against mom the day after children's funeral

Metro Atlanta

Meth charges against mom the day after children's funeral

Neibi Brito - charged in connection with death of 3 kids - was taken in shackles to their funeral.

Brito was scheduled for the hearing on Wednesday but the hearing was reset for 8:30 a.m. Thursday so Brito, 22, could attend the funeral for her children. Her children died in a fire at a Lilburn home where methamphetamine was being manufactured, authorities charge.

A Gwinnett County magistrate determined Thursday that police had enough evidence to support drug trafficking charges against Brito. Police are still looking for Ivan Gonzalez, 26, a resident of the Lilburn home. He fled the scene and is charged with murder in connection with the deaths of the three children.

Brito was wearing a green jail jumpsuit and her hands were clasped in front of her and she kept her gaze down during the brief session. A police investigator said 4,555 grams of liquid meth was found inside the house in the 1100 block of Spring Mill Drive. Some of the meth was in a utility closet and the rest was in a cooler in the garage. The fire started in the utility closet, spread down the hallway and into the kitchen, police said.

Neibi Brito is escorted Wednesday into a funeral service held for her three children killed in what Gwinnett police suspect was a meth-related fire at her home.

The funeral for Isaac Guevara, 4, Ivan Guevara, 3, and 18-month-old Stacy Brito was held at the Willis Funeral Home in Dalton.

Brito is led from the funeral service in Dalton.

Gwinnett County Fire PIO, Tommy Rutledge (left) and Gwinnett County police PIO corporal, J.L. Smith (right) hold a press conference in front of the Lilburn house where three children died in a suspected meth fire.

Investigators said the children suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation.

Police said the house contained a cache of toxic and highly volatile chemicals used in the manufacture of meth and that four pounds of the drug were somehow ignited.

A window was broken out in an attempt to rescue the children.

Neibi Yamel Brito is charged with trafficking in methamphetamine, police said, with additional charges possible.

Gwinnett police are looking for Ivan Gonzalez, 26, who is charged with murder in the children's deaths.

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Brito was scheduled for the hearing on Wednesday but the hearing was reset for 8:30 a.m. Thursday so Brito, 22, could attend the funeral for her children. Her children died in a fire at a Lilburn home where methamphetamine was being manufactured, authorities charge.

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