Police: Suspect brought child with her to deal location

A Riverdale woman was arrested Thursday afternoon for selling crystal methamphetamine to an undercover officer in the parking lot of the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Fayetteville, police said.

Esmerala Soto, 27, of Valley Hill Road also had a child under the age of two with her at the time of the transaction, said Capt. Mike Pruitt of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department Drug Task Force.

The child, who Soto left in her car when she walked away to make the deal, was taken into protective custody by the Fayette County Department of Family and Children Services.

Pruitt said Soto sold a half-ounce of crystal meth to an undercover agent.

Soto did not have any papers to indicate she is residing in the country legally, Pruitt confirmed.