Suburban mom arrested after unspeakable act on 5th graders at school party

By NIC WHITE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: 22:04 BST, 23 April 2025 | Updated: 22:16 BST, 23 April 2025

A parent got 15 kids so drunk some were dizzy and vomited after bringing jello shots to a class party she allegedly knew were alcoholic.

Teresa Isabel Bernal, 33, bought the shots from a bakery in Tyler, Texas, and took them to her daughter’s Christmas party at Jones Elementary School.

Fifth grade students devoured all but four of the shots by the time an assistant principal called police about 11.15am on December 20.

No one realized the jello was spiked with vodka until about 20 minutes into the party when two of the teachers tried them and tasted the alcohol.

By then, one of the kids had knocked back six of them, and later told police he felt dizzy, then fell down and couldn’t get back up and was scared.

Another little girl said she had two, and had to throw up in the bathroom, then vomited again later in the day and ‘passed out on the floor at home’. 

‘The teacher took the kids back to her class and later sent the kids who had consumed a Jell-O shot to the nurse and only had four kids left in her classroom,’ police said.

The responding cop wrote that he talked to all 15 of the kids who took the jello and ‘nearly all of them reported having stomach aches and headaches’.

Teresa Isabel Bernal, 33, got 15 kids so drunk some were dizzy and vomited after bringing jello shots to a class party

Bernal told police that she found the bakery on Facebook and ordered two boxes of 20 shots after going to the business, which was run out of a house.

The shots came in blue, red, and green and those in one box were decorated with sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

Officer Darin Grissom wrote in a charging affidavit that when he interviewed Bernal at the school he asked her if they shots contained alcohol.

‘They do taste different,’ she replied, according to the affidavit.

Grissom spoke to the bakery owner after the holidays, on January 13, and told them I thought Bernal knew she was purchasing Jell-O shots that included alcohol’.

‘The owner agreed with me and said Bernal ordered one order of Jell-O shots the day before the incident,’ he wrote.

‘In looking at the photo of the Jell-O shots Bernal ordered, it clearly states the Jell-O shots contained Smirnoff.

‘In my opinion, there is no way Bernal could have missed the fact that the Jell-O shots she purchased from the local business and brought to the Christmas party contained drinking alcohol.’

Grissom’s suspicions increased when he reviewed text messages between Bernal and the bakery.

Bernal bought the shots from a bakery in Tyler, Texas , and took them to her daughter’s Christmas party at Jones Elementary School (pictured)

‘Bernal asks the owner if the shots contain alcohol. The owner texted back that the shots do have alcohol and asked why. Bernal simply said “kids”,’ he wrote.

Grissom also interviewed school staff, who said Bernal was a very involved parent who often came to school functions, and they trusted her not to bring anything harmful to the party.

Once lab tests confirmed the jello shots contained alcohol, Bernal was arrested and charged with recklessly causing bodily injury to a child.

She was booked into the Smith County Jail on Monday and released on $75,000 bail.

The school said she had not been allowed back at the school since the party.

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Suburban mom arrested after unspeakable act on 5th graders at school party

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