Oklahoma Couple Charged With First-Degree Murder After Starving 7-Year-Old Daughter to Death — Then Telling Hospital Medics She Had Flu
Anthony Yonko (left) allegedly kept changing his story to police regarding the death of his daughter with Lisa Mitchell (right), police said.
Aug. 7 2024, Published 2:42 p.m. ET
A couple in Oklahoma has been arrested after they allegedly brought their severely emaciated and physically abused 7-year-old daughter to a local hospital — telling medics she had the flu, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by KFOR, officers responded to a call from the county medical examiner’s office regarding a child brought to the emergency room of Saint Anthony’s Midwest Hospital around 1 p.m. on Aug. 2, Front Page Detectives reported.
Doctors urged the man to have the surgery to avoid serious health complications.
Officials said the victim was brought to the hospital in a personal vehicle around 11:30 a.m. and was pronounced dead shortly after her arrival.
Medics told police the girl “had signs of rigor mortis and possible injuries internal and external”.
According to the affidavit, a doctor found “numerous amounts of black and dark red secretions” coming from the child’s mouth when they pushed on her stomach area. Medical staff also noted she was “extremely malnourished”, weighing only 25 pounds and approximately 27 inches tall.
Doctors said the child was 'extremely malnourished,' weighing only 25 pounds.
The victim’s father, 38-year-old Anthony Yonko, told police he had been staying at apartments in Midwest City with the victim’s mother, 30-year-old Lisa Mitchell, and their children. From there, police claimed, his story was inconsistent.
Yonko initially said he went to sleep around 9 p.m. on Aug. 1, with Mitchell and the victim sleeping on a small couch in the same room. He then woke up around 9 a.m. on Aug. 2 and Mitchell told him the victim was “not moving and was sick and needed to go to the hospital”, the affidavit states.
A “friend” took them to the hospital, but he could not provide a name or phone number for the friend, according to the document. Police wrote Yonko claimed to have been feeding the victim “crackers and soup because she possibly had the flu”, but they had not been to a doctor since the girl was “much younger”.
Police said they were able to use sidewalk spit to help crack a 1988 cold case murder.
Yonko was placed under arrest and transported to the Midwest City jail, where he agreed to speak with detectives for a second interview, officials said.
During this second interview, Yonko again changed his story. He claimed he, Mitchell and the victim were the only people in the apartment. He later stated Mitchell’s sister, boyfriend and two or three other kids were in the residence when he woke up that morning to Mitchell saying the child was not moving. Yonko also claimed Mitchell was playing with the victim that morning and then stated she was not moving, according to police.
Valadez was arrested and charged with the murder of Dixon, authorities said.
When asked about the victim’s emaciated state, Yonko insisted his daughter weighed 50 pounds only four or five days prior and was “completely healthy”, stating he “feeds the child all the time”, investigators said in the affidavit
He had no explanation on why she weighed only 25 pounds and was “very unhealthy” at the time of her death.
In the second interview, he stated his brother was the person who took them to the hospital, also stating the brother had been staying in their residence as well.
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Police spoke with the brother, who said Yonko was “freaking out” on the morning of Aug. 2, saying they needed to get his daughter to the hospital. The brother told police he dropped them off at the hospital, but did not stay because “he was afraid and needed to get to work”.
Yonko and Mitchell were both arrested and charged with one count each of first-degree murder, officials said. Yonko was also charged with one count each of torturing, maiming and death of a child by injuring.
They were booked into jail and each was being held on a $10 million bond.
Neighbor Kimberlie Pointer told KOCO: "The fact that she suffered, and nobody was there to help her? It's just senseless.”
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