By: Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A former Glencoe woman, whose baby had methamphetamine in his system when he died about an hour after his birth in Stillwater, has admitted neglecting her newborn infant by failing to protect him from exposure to the use of illegal drugs, court records show.
Lonna Anne Stokes, 35, who reportedly now lives in the Billings area, has been ordered by Payne County District Judge Phillip Corley to enroll in and successfully complete the Kay County Drug Court program.
The baby’s mother pleaded guilty on Feb. 26 to child neglect before the Payne County judge, who scheduled her sentencing for March 26, court records show.
The baby’s father, Kyle Stokes, 36, who was already on drug probation, has been ordered to appear in court on the child neglect charge before Payne County Associate District Judge Stephen Kistler on April 1.
The couple were living in Glencoe at the time of their arrest on Jan. 18, 2019, 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,” according to the affidavit.
When the investigator spoke to a physician at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Jan. 4, 2019, “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.
In April of 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 (2018), and again approximately one hour prior to being picked up by the ambulance at 11:04 pm,” the sheriff’s investigator wrote in his affidavit.
At Stillwater Medical Center, the sheriff’s investigator told the baby’s father that his wife claimed “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 (2018). Kyle was fully aware Lonna was pregnant at this time,” 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 last used on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2018, just one day prior to her going into labor,” 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,” in his 2017 methamphetamine and tramadol drug possession case, the affidavit alleged.
When the baby’s mother was asked about her feelings after being told her 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 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 said.
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