Neighbors reported listening to the lady seek advice from the children as “nugatory” and “little bastards,” seeing them dumpster-dive for meals scraps, and at the very least one stated they noticed the kids crying whereas inside a locked cage meant for a big canine.
A lady in Oklahoma has been arrested and is going through prices after a year-long investigation into the life she allegedly supplied for the grandkids she was granted custody of after their father, her son, died in a highway rage incident in 2022.
Davena D. Marx, 53, was charged with one depend of kid abuse and one depend of kid neglect, in accordance with court docket data reviewed by Legislation & Crime.
The costs relate particularly to allegations that she gave the 2 kids, aged 8 and 10 on the time, antipsychotic medicine and locked them in a canine cage in order that she may depart the home. However the investigation uncovered much more unsettling particulars.
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In line with native CBS affiliate KWTVWarr Acres Police and a social employee with the Oklahoma Division of Well being Companies first obtained concerned in March 2024 after receiving a tip of kid abuse. Shortly after their arrival, the then-8-year-old lady texted the social employee, “She is imply to us she could be very abusive.”
The kid was then taken exterior and away from her grandmother, the place she reportedly alleged, “Memaw sells medicine and makes use of them. She makes us keep within the canine cage when she needs to go exterior by herself.” The ladies’ then-10-year-old brother corroborated her story, saying he was given prescribed drugs not meant for him by their grandmother.
“When officers arrived, the kids, that night time, have been taken away from the house,” stated Assistant Police Chief Jason Allen. However the investigation was simply beginning.
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Extent of Alleged Abuse Uncovered
As soon as faraway from the home, the kids went into higher element at a “Kids’s Protected Clinic,” the place they have been additionally examined. A health care provider on the clinic reported bruising on the again of Marx’s granddaughter described as “in keeping with being hit with a belt.”
Among the many allegations of abuse, the kids claimed their grandmother would make them do leaping jacks till their legs and arms gave out.
Neighbors additionally spoke to authorities as a part of the investigation, providing much more tales. One neighbor stated they overheard Marx name the kids “nugatory” and “little bastards.” Different neighbors stated there was “plenty of cursing, plenty of screaming, and degrading them.”
That very same neighbor stated they heard the kids crying after which noticed them locked inside a crate designed for a big canine. One other neighbor stated that they usually noticed the kids with black eyes and that that they had been noticed wanting via a dumpster for meals scraps.
After acquiring a warrant, police have been in a position to entry Marx’s condo, the place they discovered a big canine cage, and prescription treatment in keeping with what the kids described.
In line with court docket data, “one of many kids was discovered to have been given Seroquel by their grandmother, and each kids have been discovered to have been saved in a canine cage at completely different time limits.”
Seroquel is described as an antipsychotic that induces drowsiness. The treatment discovered within the condo was prescribed to Marx. She denied ever abusing or drugging her grandchildren, although a blood take a look at revealed her grandson examined constructive for Seroquel.
Neighbors interviewed stated that they’d by no means witnessed Marx giving the kids any medicine, they usually additionally famous that there have been occasions the kids gave the impression to be joyful, “working round, having enjoyable with their associates screaming.”
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Kids’s Father Murdered in Highway Rage Incident
Marx acquired custody of her grandchildren in 2022 after her son, the kids’s father, was murdered in a highway rage taking pictures in 2022. “She stated she obtained them from their mother, and after they have been with their mother, they have been in a foul surroundings,” one neighbor advised authorities.
NBC affiliate KFOR reported on the highway rage incident in 2022, stating that Kasey Caleb McConnville, 25, shot a number of rounds into the automobile of Devyn Hinkle, 31, whereas each have been touring the identical route in Oklahoma Metropolis.
By the point police arrived simply after 2:30 p.m., Hinkle was mendacity on the pavement subsequent to his truck. He was rushed to a close-by hospital, however died later that afternoon. McConville fled the scene, however witness descriptions of his hearse-like automobile led police to him. He was charged with first-degree homicide.
Up till the second of her arrest, KWTV studies that Marx was within the technique of transferring to a brand new home within the hopes that she may once more regain custody of her grandchildren. They’d been in state custody because the welfare test a 12 months prior.
If you’re experiencing or witness youngster abuse, name the Childhelp Nationwide Little one Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Little one or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. In the event you consider a baby is in rapid hazard, name 911.
