An Oklahoma couple has been charged with murder after they brought their 7-year-old daughter to a Midwest City hospital, dead and weighing just 25 pounds.
Police were called to Saint Anthony’s Midwest Hospital Friday afternoon after Anthony Yokno, 38, and Lisa Mitchell, 30, brought the child in.
Mitchell was carrying the child in a blanket, and hospital staff noted that the child already had aifna od eifoe mortis and possible injuries both internal and external., KFOR reported.
An affidavit said the staff noted black and dark red secretions from the child’s mouth when they pushed on the stomach.
The child was clearly malnourished, weighing 25 pounds and was about 37 inches tall.
Yonko reportedly told police he went to sleep Thursday night alone. Mitchell, he said, was sleeping on a couch with the child. When he woke up, he told police, he saw the child wasn’t moving.
But police said Yonko changed his story multiple times. At first, he said only he and Mitchell were at the apartment, but later he said Mitchell’s sister, her boyfriend, and two or three other children were there.
He reportedly told police the child was completely healthy a few days before but could not explain why the child weighed on ly 25 pounds and was decidedly unhealthy on Friday.
Mitchell told police the child had a flu, and they came to the hospital because they weren’t moving Friday morning.
Yonko claimed the girl lost 25 pounds in less than week, KOKH said.
Yonko’s brother brought the couple and the child to the hospital, KFOR reported. He told police that Yonko called and said the chld was sick and they need a ride. He gave them that ride, but left because, he said, he was afraid and needed to go to work.
Mitchell and Yonko and each been charged with murder.
