Wife accuses husband of beating four-year-old girl to death before burying her
A missing four-year-old girl was beaten to death on Christmas night by a caregiver and then buried, according to court documents released Tuesday.
Athena Brownfield has been missing since January 10 when a postie discovered her five-year-old sister alone outside the home the girls shared with the caregivers, Ivon Adams and Alysia Adams, in Cyril, about 70 miles (113km) southwest of Oklahoma City.
Authorities searching for the girl have found the remains of a child but have not yet identified them as Athena.
"The remains will be transported to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Oklahoma City for positive identification," according to an OSBI statement.
"This is an active homicide investigation and until the remains are positively identified, the OSBI will not be commenting further."
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Ivon Adams, left, allegedly beat the 4-year-old to death, said his wife, Alysia Adams, right (Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation)The remains were found near Rush Springs, about 15 miles (24km) from the Oklahoma community of Cyril, where Athena was reported missing.
The child was allegedly beaten to death and buried by Ivon, the court documents said.
Alysia later told investigators that Ivon beat the child at about midnight on Christmas night, and "held her up by her arms," according to an affidavit for the arrest of Ivon.
Athena "was not moving and her eyes were barely open," Alysia said, according to the affidavit by OSBI Lt. Brenna Alvarez.
Ivon "then laid her on the ground and punched her at least three more times in the chest" and the child "never moved after that".
The document does not reveal what preceded the alleged murder.
Troopers search a pond near Cyril, Oklahoma (Trooper Eric Foster/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Ivon left the home with Athena at about 1am on Boxing Day and later returned, saying he buried her body on land they once owned near Rush Springs, placing "a large broken branch" above to mark the site.
She has been charged with murder and child neglect and Alysia has been charged with two counts of child neglect in the case.
A not-guilty plea was entered on Alysia’s behalf during a court hearing. Court documents do not list attorneys who could speak for either of the Adams.
The search for the child turned into a "recovery operation," the OSBI said Monday.
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Ivon, 36, was arrested last week in Arizona on murder and child neglect charges and awaits extradition. Alysia, 31, is jailed in Oklahoma on child neglect charges after also being arrested last week.
He has waived extradition to Oklahoma and remains jailed in Maricopa County, Arizona, pending extradition.
"I want to get there and take care of it," Adams told a judge during a hearing Friday in Maricopa County court. "I need to get there and fight this."
A postie found her sister wandering alone outside on Tuesday (@OHPDPS/Twitter)Brandon Bryant, who said he and his wife were once neighbours of the Adams, said Tuesday that he had little interaction with the couple, but saw nothing unusual from them.
"Didn’t see anything out of the normal. We talked to Alysia a few times, Ivon never," Bryant said. "We never went into their house. Alysia came over to our house a few times ... we gave her a car seat."
The OSBI has said the girls and the Adams are related. The affidavit said the children's biological mother had left them with the couple 1 1/2 to 2 years ago, and that the girls called Alysia "mom" or "Aly" and Ivon "dad" or "Uncle Ivon."
The children's biological mother and father are cooperating with investigators, according to the OSBI.
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