Mother accused of giving away her 2-year-old daughter to a suspected drug dealer

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (KOKH) – An Oklahoma woman is facing charges after allegedly giving away her 2-year-old daughter to a suspected drug dealer.

Ashley Rowland was arrested in October for child abandonment after she allegedly told police she gave her 2-year-old daughter to a man she bought methamphetamine from in 2022. She was later released on bail.

According to court documents, the investigation began in April 2022 at an apartment complex in Moore, where it was learned that a child had not been seen in several years.

A year later, the Oklahoma Department of Human Services received a collection order. Although they couldn’t find the girl, with the help of Moore police, they were able to find her mother, Rowland.

Rowland told officials her daughter was with her father in Georgia, but authorities determined she was lying. During a second interview, she told police that she had given her daughter, who was 2 at the time, to a man from whom she bought meth and that she was heavily using drugs at the time she gave the child away.

She identified the man as “Carlos,” who told her he was going back to Mexico when she last saw him in April 2022. She says that was also the last time she saw her daughter.

Rowland was booked into the Oklahoma County Jail last week. Authorities were in the process of increasing her bail to $100,000, but she was already able to post bail before that.

DHS could not speak to specific details about the case per policy, but said in a statement: “Situations described in this affidavit are heartbreaking and unimaginable. The agency is grateful to our law enforcement partners for their continued efforts to find her and seek justice in her disappearance.”

Rowland is due back in court on January 6 for an arraignment. Court authorities say she will have to post $100,000 bail at that time or remain in custody.