Tarrant County Juvenile Officer Terminated For Sneaking Snacks, Vape Pens Into Detention Center

A juvenile detention officer, Dwayne Slay, was fired by Tarrant County Juvenile Services after he was accused of smuggling in snacks, including a bag of chips that had THC-infused vape pens inside of them, for minors that were in custody.

Documents show that Slay was terminated in May 2023.

The county had petitioned that the Texas General’s Office withhold these records because the information was in relation to juveniles.

In the middle of May, a juvenile who was in custody told staff about what was going on. The department has called it exploitation. When that was told to investigators, Slay had already been on paid administrative leave, “due to a separate allegation that was unfounded.”

One of the juveniles had disclosed that he had been provided with snacks by Slay. The juvenile added that one of his relatives was first sending him $50, and then the payments rose to $70.

The juvenile said that Slay would retrieve snacks from his relative and bring them to the juvenile facility. One of the chip bags contained vape pens with THC inside. However, the teen said that Slay was unaware of the pens.

The minor also told investigators that because his relatives were paying Slay, he was allowed more phone calls and more time out of his room.

When questioned, at first Slay denied the accusations. But, when he was shown screenshots of CashApp payments to his account, he confessed to the offenses. He said that he had gotten, ‘caught up’ attempting to assist the residents.

Days after the investigation started, Slay resigned from his position at the detention center. His termination was noted as “Involuntary-Misconduct.”

Slay had started working at the detention center in 2019, being paid $29 per hour and receiving positive performance evaluations. He had previously worked at juvenile detention centers in Denton County and Lubbock.

Prior to working in juvenile detention centers, Slay played football at Texas Tech. In 2006, he signed with the Chicago Bears and then played with the Amarillo Dusters, an indoor team, and the Canadian Football League’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.