4-year-old Athena Brownfield’s caretaker allegedly beat her to death, according to arrest affidavit
By Amanda Watts, Andy Rose and Christina Maxouris, CNN
Ivon Adams, one of the caretakers for 4-year-old Athena Brownfield when she disappeared, allegedly beat her to death and buried her near their old house, according to court documents in the case against him.
Authorities first discovered that Athena was missing on January 10, after her 5-year-old sister was seen by a mail carrier wandering unattended outside of a home in the Oklahoma town of Cyril. Adams and his wife were arrested and charged in the case last week. On Tuesday, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced it recovered the remains of a child and that they will be taken to a medical examiner’s office for positive identification.
The affidavit for Adams’ arrest alleges that his wife, Alysia Adams, confessed to authorities in a January 12 interview that her husband beat Athena on Christmas night and “held her up by her arms.”
Athena was “not moving and her eyes were barely open,” the affidavit alleged.
Ivon Adams then “laid her on the ground and punched her at least three more times in the chest,” and the child did not move after that, Alysia Adams allegedly told police, according to the affidavit.
Ivon Adams allegedly then took Athena’s body and “buried her near a fence line” close to their old home in Rush Springs, according to the court document. He also allegedly told his wife he placed a “large broken branch” over the site, according to the affidavit.
In its Tuesday announcement, the state’s bureau of investigation said the child remains were recovered in rural Grady County, “outside of Rush Springs.”
Ivon Adams, who was arrested Thursday in Arizona, faces one count of murder in the first degree and felony child neglect, according to online records for Caddo County, Oklahoma, District Court. He remains in custody without bond in Maricopa County, Arizona, according to online records. He had not yet entered a plea on Tuesday and CNN has not been able to identify an attorney for him.
His wife, Alysia Adams, is facing two counts of felony child neglect. She is accused of failing to properly care for the children and of “failing to protect (Athena) from physical abuse” by her husband, according to the charging document filed Tuesday in Caddo County District Court.
According to an affidavit in her case, the children’s biological mother left the girls in the couple’s care roughly two years earlier, but the pair didn’t take them to the doctor for check-ups and didn’t enroll Athena’s older sister in school.
A not guilty plea was entered on Alysia Adams’ behalf during a court hearing.
Alysia Adams remains in custody in Caddo County after she was arrested last week. An Oklahoma judge set a bond of $500,000 for her on Tuesday.
CNN reached out to an attorney for Alysia Adams for comment.
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