Tri-Cities mom admits cooking hash oil with 4 kids home. 1 was hurt in the explosion

A Kennewick mother says she was trying to save money by making her own THC hash oil at home.

Lenne S. Parsons sat her four young kids down with lunch, then returned to her laundry room/bathroom to continue her experiment based on YouTube videos.

She thought the room had enough ventilation, but then, “Poof.”

The mother and one of her sons were injured.

Parsons was indicted in May for the Dec. 13 explosion inside her West 15th Place home.

Last week, she pleaded guilty in Richland’s U.S. District Court to one count of endangering human life while manufacturing hash oil and marijuana.

Her plea was part of a deferred prosecution agreement, which means her case will be dismissed in 1 1/2 years if she doesn’t commit another crime or intentionally violate any conditions of her release.

Her sentencing is scheduled for April 2021.

If Parsons gets into any trouble before then, federal Judge Sal Mendoza Jr. can sentence her to a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Endangerment charges

Parsons was one of two Kennewick residents under indictment for explosions inside their homes in 2018 while cooking hash oil.

Gabriel C. Schumacher was charged with three counts: endangering human life while manufacturing hash oil and marijuana; maintaining a drug-involved premises; and manufacturing hash oil and marijuana.

He pleaded guilty in June to the endangering charge, and in September was sentenced to five years of probation. Two other charges were dismissed.

Schumacher also was ordered to pay nearly $17,000 in restitution for the damage to his South Dawes Street townhouse and two neighboring properties.

As part of their pleas, both Parsons and Schumacher were told they cannot use illegal drugs. They must submit to urinalysis and other testing, up to six times a month, in order to prove they are staying drug-free, court records show.

Hash oil

Hash oil is created by extracting THC — the active ingredient in marijuana — from resin secreted by the plant’s glands, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The final product can be up to 90 percent pure, and creates the “high” or psychoactive effects associated with cannabis.

The extraction process involves using a volatile solvent, like butane, and the vapors from the butane can ignite with just a spark of electricity.

Kennewick firefighters were called to Parsons’ home for reports of an explosion and small fire.

Investigators found butane tubes, extraction equipment and 350 grams of marijuana in bags inside the house.

An officer noticed Parsons’ son had singed hair at the front of his head and was complaining of pain to his feet.

“(Parson) was crying as she explained that her kids were supposed to be eating in a different room when she heard her son walk up and say ‘mom,’” documents said. “(She said) that is when she felt the heat and saw ‘orange.’”

She also was treated for burns to her hands and arms.

No one was injured in the March 2018 explosion inside Schumacher’s townhouse.

However, the garage door was blown out and his glass windows on the back blasted out, and a building inspector determined two neighboring homes also were too damaged to live in.

He was arrested for allegedly trying to run from officers.

Court documents say he was growing marijuana in the garage and was using ether to make hash oil.

The explosion happened when flammable vapors produced by the ether ignited, causing an overpressure of the space within a refrigerator, said court documents.

No one was in the kitchen at the time. Otherwise, that person likely would have been killed, said a fire marshal.