Rapid City Police Department

Supporters of Abbey Steele's family stand outside the Pennington County Jail on Dec. 6, 2022. (Courtesy photo)

State clears police and jail staff in young mother’s death, seeks info on meth dealer

BY: - February 7, 2023

Attorney General Marty Jackley wants the public’s help to find the source of the methamphetamine that may have killed Abbey Lynn Steele. The state Division of Criminal Investigation conducted an inquiry into Steele’s death at the request of the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, which runs the jail where Steele’s heart stopped on Nov. 16, and […]

A photo of Abbey Lynn Steele on display during a vigil on Dec. 6, 2022, outside the Pennington County Jail in Rapid City. (Photo by A.J. Etherington/Rapid City Journal)

‘Treated like a criminal’: Native woman’s death sparks questions

BY: - December 16, 2022

In May of 2021, Abbey Lynn Steele gave birth to her first child, a baby boy. A urine test showed methamphetamine in his system. Steele, who turned 19 that month, also tested positive for meth.  The drug’s detection in the baby’s urine assured that Steele would not keep full custody under South Dakota law. Its […]

The exterior of Monument Health in Rapid City, pictured on Dec. 16, 2022. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)

Advocates: South Dakota has ‘counterproductive’ approach to drug use by mothers

BY: - December 16, 2022

Abbey Steele found herself facing a felony drug ingestion charge in 2021, based on a urine test collected after she gave birth to her first child. Steele was among two dozen mothers whose maternity ward drug test sparked a call to the Rapid City Police Department in 2021.  The RCPD has collected the metric since […]