(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Glencoe couple, whose baby had methamphetamine in his system when he died about an hour after his birth, have been ordered to appear by video from the Payne County Jail before a judge this afternoon on child neglect charges.
Lonna Anne Stokes, 33, and her husband, Kyle Stokes, 34, who was already on drug probation, could each receive as much as a life prison term if convicted of failing to protect their child from exposure to the use and possession of illegal drugs on Dec. 6, 2018, court records show.
A week after their baby’s death, both were accused in misdemeanor counts of possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia on Dec. 14, 2018, court records show.
The couple were arrested for alleged child neglect on Jan. 18 by Payne County Sheriff’s Investigator Rockford Brown, who began an investigation on Dec. 6, 2018, “into a child death with suspicious circumstances at SMC Labor & Delivery in Stillwater,” his affidavit said.
“While in labor and delivery, Lonna tells staff she used meth on the same day she arrived at the hospital,” the affidavit alleged.
When the sheriff’s investigator spoke to a physician with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Jan. 4, “the cause of death was intrauterine hypoxia resulting from the aspiration of meconium while in utero,” the affidavit said.
“A contributing factor to the cause of death was intrauterine exposure to methamphetamine,” the affidavit alleged.
During a 6:30 a.m. interview with the mother at the hospital on the day of the baby’s death, the sheriff’s investigator said, “I observed multiple bruises up and down both of her arms,” which she allegedly attributed to injecting methamphetamine, according to the affidavit.
In April 2018, “Lonna became aware she was pregnant from a home pregnancy test,” and told her husband, the affidavit alleged.
“Lonna had been using meth on a daily basis prior to getting pregnant and never stopped using meth up until the day of delivery. Lonna would inject the meth intravenously, and at times Lonna would inject ‘speed balls’ made up of either meth and morphine pills or meth and Roxicodone/oxycodone pills.
“Lonna would use meth at least once a day, up to four times a day. Lonna told me she used meth on the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 5, and again approximately one hour prior to being picked up by the ambulance at 11:04 p.m.,” the sheriff’s investigator alleged in his affidavit.
In an interview with the baby’s father at Stillwater Medical Center, the sheriff’s investigator told him, “Lonna alleged he had injected her with meth on the same day they went to the hospital. Kyle denied this, but did tell me it was ‘easier to help her than to not.’
“Kyle said he did inject her with meth on occasion, but stopped sometime in early September. Kyle was fully aware Lonna was pregnant at this time,” the affidavit alleged.
“No prenatal care was sought at any time during the pregnancy; however, Kyle claimed he had tried to get Lonna to go to Edwin Fair (mental health facility) to be evaluated. Kyle said he did this on at least two occasions, but Lonna would change her mind before he could get her there. Lonna threatened to have him arrested and his 10-year suspended sentence revoked,” the affidavit alleged.
“At times, Kyle said Lonna would try to convince him that meth was good for a child because it had dopamine in it. Kyle said Lonna was getting used needles from his sharps container, as he is a diabetic. Kyle had full knowledge that she had been using meth, and he himself had last used on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, just one day prior to her going into labor.
“At a later interview, Kyle was confronted with Lonna’s accusation of him supplying her with illegal drugs. Kyle said, ‘I didn’t just openly hand them to her.’ He later said he had already admitted to having them (drugs) in the house,” the affidavit alleged.
When the baby’s mother was asked about her feelings after being told the newborn died, “Lonna replied, ‘Honestly, I would have to say that there was probably some relief on my part. I didn’t deserve it.
“I had been put in that position and it’s not fair I had to be pregnant. I’m not just a baby-making factory. That’s not all I am,” the baby’s mother allegedly told the investigator.
About her life not being fair, the baby’s mother said, “No, I felt like it wasn’t fair. It was not fair that I had to have the baby that way,” the affidavit alleged.
“Lonna told me, “there is no way in hell you can prove that that drug is what caused the baby’s death.’ Lonna thought prescription drugs would be more harmful to an unborn baby than meth, and at times she did use morphine and Roxicodone/oxycodone mixed with meth,” the investigator alleged in his affidavit.
“No prenatal care was sought at any time during the pregnancy, and when asked why she didn’t, she said, ‘I couldn’t get anybody to take me to DHS to apply for Sooner Start,” the affidavit alleged.
“According to the chief toxicologist with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Dr. Byron Curtis, meth can be toxic to neurons in the brain, especially in a developing brain and any level of meth in an adult’s body is potentially fatal,” the affidavit alleged.
Court records show that the baby’s father pleaded guilty on Jan. 17, 2018, to possessing the drugs, methamphetamine and tramadol, with intent to distribute within 2,000 feet of a Glencoe public park and Glencoe public schools on Aug. 9, 2017, for which he was placed on probation under a 10-year suspended sentence with an order to have a substance abuse evaluation, follow any recommendations, undergo random drug tests, comply with the methamphetamine registry, perform 50 hours of community service and pay $1,800 in fines and assessments for that felony count.
The baby’s father also pleaded guilty that day to possessing a .22 Mag revolver and a .22-caliber rifle during the commission of the drug crime, along with maintaining a house where drugs were kept or sold, both felonies for which he was given a concurrent five-year suspended sentence plus $1,100 in assessments. The baby’s father also pleaded guilty to possessing drug paraphernalia listed as syringes, baggies, digital scales, a glass pipe, a spoon and cut straws, for which he was given a concurrent one-year suspended sentence.
The Payne County District Attorney’s Office is seeking to have the baby’s father’s suspended sentence revoked in that four-count case, for his failure to comply with the rules of probation including his being charged with drug possession in Pawnee County on July 17, 2018, as well as his positive drugs tests on May 17, 2018, for methamphetamine, amphetamine, opiate and oxycodone, and his positive drug tests on March 15, 2018, for methamphetamine, amphetamine, ecstasy, opiate, oxycodone and THC, along with failure to submit to drug tests on other dates, court records show.
***
