Cops: Pair in Medford face drug, child endangerment charges

A man and a woman were charged with child endangerment and drug and gun possession Monday after an officer was tipped about drug activity in Medford, Suffolk police said.

Zhurnay Hardy and Christina Shepherd were in a car about 9:30 a.m. on Maple Avenue when a Sixth Precinct officer took them into custody and found Shepherd’s 3-year-old child with them, police said.

Hardy, 30, of Granny Road in Medford, and Shepherd, 34, of Narragansett Avenue in East Patchogue, each were charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon; endangering the welfare of a child; defacement of a weapon; third-degree possession of a controlled substance; and three counts of seventh-degree possession of a controlled substance and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia. Hardy also was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Suffolk Child Protective Services was contacted, and the child was released to a family member, police said.

Hardy and Shepherd were held overnight for arraignment Tuesday at First District Court in Central Islip, police said.