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Mom jailed after toddler tests positive for pot, coke and meth

Komo News, October 8, 2014

TACOMA, Wash. -- A woman accused of giving her daughter methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana through breastfeeding is back in jail in Tacoma while she awaits trial on a charge of endangerment with a controlled substance.

The 34-year-old, Iuni Moana Malo, had been released to await trial after pleading not guilty.

Malo was booked back into the Pierce County Jail on Monday after failing to appear for a hearing.

She had gone to a hospital in July because she suspected her daughter had been sexually abused by a man they were staying with at a local hotel. Hospital workers said she appeared "extremely high" and admitted to smoking crack and meth earlier that day, according to court documents.

Hospital staff checked the little girl and found no evidence of sexual assault, but the 2-year-old did test positive for drugs.

In a letter to court requesting a new lawyer, Malo wrote she's a single mother of eight children with absentee fathers. She said a felony conviction would only make things worse.