Country music superstar’s ex, mother of his child facing drug charges
The mother of the child of one of country music’s biggest superstars has been arrested on drug charges in Tennessee.
Felicia Beckwith, 36, mother to country star Jelly Roll’s teenager daughter Bailee, was arrested late February in Johnson City, Tenn., Taste of Country reported.
According to WCYB, Beckwith and two other people were arrested after a traffic stop led to a search warrant at a house in Washington County, Tenn. The stop and search led to the discovery of 343 grams of methamphetamine, 12 grams of fentanyl, 16.5 grams of a crystal like powdery substance that could be either meth or fentanyl, four handguns, $1,200 in cash and various pills and paraphernalia.
Christopher Thomas McKinney, 38, and Christopher Travis Porambo, 32, both of Johnston City, Tenn. were charged with multiple drug offenses. Beckwith, of Kingsport, Tenn., was charged with the manufacture/delivery/sell/possession of methamphetamine, schedule II drug violations and unlawful drug paraphernalia, among other charges.
She was taken to the Washington County Detention Center on $4,000 bond and is expected to be in court later this week.
McKinney and Porambo’s bonds were set at $99,000 and $11,000, respectively.
The country music star, whose real name is Jason DeFord, and his wife, Bunny XO, have custody of Bailee. Jelly Roll was in jail when his daughter was born and he credits that with a turnaround in his life.
“A guard knocks on my cell door midafternoon during lockdown. He goes, ‘You had a kid today,’ ” Jelly Roll recalled during an interview. “I’ve never had nothing in life that urged me in the moment to know that I had to do something different. I have to figure this out right now.”
After being released from jail, Jelly said he had to go to court to get supervised visitation with his daughter. He has spoken openly about his former partner’s battle with substance abuse.
“Every single day I have to wonder, me and my wife, if today will be the day I have to tell my daughter that her mother became a part of the national statistic,” he said during a 2024 speech in Washington, D.C.
Bailee, who is also a songwriter, has appeared with her father in several performances.