By Kelsey Givens

Police arrested a mother, her daughter and one other person this week after the mother called to report an alleged murder and all three were discovered to be under the influence of illegal drugs when an officer arrived to investigate.

Barbara Bell, 55, Antionette Bell, 23, and Michael Sylva, 48, were arrested on various drug-related charges when police showed up to the Bell’s home Monday evening around 9 p.m. after Barbara called to speak with a Nye County Sheriff’s detective about an alleged murder.

According to a declaration of arrest in the case, Barbara called the detective and left him a voice mail stating she needed to talk to him about a neighbor who had allegedly told her daughter Antionette that he had killed his wife.

After listening to the message, the detective went over to the Bell’s home in the 2000 block of W. Pilot Place to speak with them about what had happened.

He first made contact with Barbara and immediately noticed that she appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance. He noted he had seen her under the influence before and the red eyes, accelerated breathing, wide pupils and dry mouth she was exhibiting were consistent with the behavior he had seen in her previously.

After a short conversation about the alleged murder, Barbara reportedly told the officer he would need to speak to Antionette, who was inside with Sylva, for more information on the case.

After knocking on Antionette’s door, the detective noted there was a long pause with a lot of movement inside the residence before Antionette came to the door when her mother told her the detective was there to speak with her.

As the detective walked into the home, he could reportedly smell the lingering scent of marijuana in the air and noticed it appeared Antionette too was under the influence of a controlled substance.

The officer noted in the report that he has seen Antionette under the influence of controlled substances many times before as well, and based on her behavior it appeared she was high on methamphetamine.

Taking all of that into consideration, the detective began to question Antionette about what she had been doing prior to letting him into the home, to which she allegedly replied she had been making food — inside a closet.

Antionette then proceeded to show the officer said closet, where he observed a box with lighters; a straw, typically used to ingest methamphetamine; and aluminum foil with a burnt residue on it that appeared to be methamphetamine, which was still warm to the touch.

He also discovered a pill bottle with a single Hydrocodone pill inside sitting just outside the closet.

As the detective further questioned Antionette, she reportedly told him Sylva had brought the methamphetamine over and they had smoked it together and that her mother also had methamphetamine in the home, which she had brought inside just prior to his arrival.

During an interview with Sylva, who also appeared to be under the influence of a controlled substance based on his large pupils and fidgeting, the detective learned that Sylva brought the methamphetamine over as a “gift” for Antionette.

After the officer finished speaking to all three people in the home, Barbara, Antionette and Sylva were all placed under arrest and transported to the Nye County Detention Center for drug-related charges.

Barbara reportedly tested presumptive positive for having methamphetamine and marijuana in her system at the jail and Sylva tested positive for methamphetamine, marijuana and ecstasy being present in his system.

Antionette’s drug test was booked into evidence and sent to the lab for analysis, but it was predicted she too would test positive for the use of methamphetamine and marijuana.

Barbara was charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance and conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act and her bail was set at $15,000.

Antionette and Sylva were each charged with three counts of being under the influence of a controlled substance, conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act, use/possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of methamphetamine and Hydrocodone. Their bail was set at $25,637 each.

As of Thursday morning, Barbara, Antionette and Sylva were all still in custody.

It was unclear from police reports whether any validity was given to the allegations about the homicide. Coincidentally, Antionette was herself nearly a murder victim when a drug dealer sent two men over to her home to kill her drug-dealing boyfriend in May 2011. Her boyfriend, Michael Frasher, was stabbed to death and Antionette received multiple life-threatening knife wounds during the attack. She recovered from the ordeal, the scars from it evident in her mugshot released by police.