Autopsy shows Athena Brownfield suffered from malnutrition, pneumonia
ANADARKO — Athena Brownfield, a 4-year-old girl who was found dead earlier this year buried near a barbed-wire fence outside of Rush Springs, died from malnutrition complicated by pneumonia, a medical examiner's report released Tuesday states.
While the report indicates the autopsy found no evidence of lethal physical trauma, it still classifies her manner of death as a homicide. Ivon Neil Adams is accused in a first-degree murder count of striking Athena multiple times at their home Dec. 25, three weeks before her body was found.
It was unclear Tuesday if the medical examiner's findings might result in any changes to charges Adams and two other adults face related to the girl's death. Caddo County District Attorney Jason Hicks could not be reached for comment.
More: Oklahoma town grieves 4-year-old Athena Brownfield, many unanswered questions remain
The report, however, does provide additional insight into the life Athena and an older sister lived after they were dropped off with a relative by their mother in 2021.
The report states Athena, at just 23 pounds, was undersized and underweight for a girl of her age, and was suffering from COVID-19 and other viruses when she died. The report says Athena was in the "less than 3rd percentile per weight-for-stature, weight-for-age, and stature-for-age growth chart."
Athena's mother, Jasmin Adina Kay Brownfield, of Stillwater, left the girls in April 2021 with Ivon and Alysia Adams because she didn't feel she could adequately care for them, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has said. The mother and Alysia Adams are related.
She signed a handwritten letter allowing for emergency care for the girls but did nothing official through the courts, an OSBI agent reported in a court affidavit.
Brownfield, 27, is charged in Caddo County District Court with two counts of child neglect by abandonment. A preliminary hearing on those charges is set for later this week. She was released after posting bond.
Discovery of unattended older sister led to search for Athena Brownfield
A massive search for 4-year-old Athena began Jan. 10 after a postal carrier found her 5-year-old sister, Adina, wandering around outside. The carrier notified police.
The search became highly publicized and ended tragically as agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation recovered Athena's remains Jan. 17 in the Rush Springs area.
As the search was underway, Alysia Adams told the OSBI her husband killed Athena late Christmas Day, according to a court affidavit. She also told the OSBI he later said "that he buried her near a fence line that was next to their old residence in Rush Springs."
That statement helped OSBI agents find the remains.
More: What happens when a child disappears in America?
Alysia Adams, 31, is charged in Caddo County District Court with two counts of child neglect and is being held in the Caddo County jail. A preliminary hearing in that case is set for 9 a.m. Oct. 4, court records show.
Ivon Neil Adams III, 37, meanwhile, faces charges in the same court accusing him of first-degree murder and child neglect.
He is accused in the child neglect count of leaving her sister alone on Jan. 6.
He was arrested Jan. 12 in Glendale, Arizona, was returned to Oklahoma and is being held in the Caddo County jail. A preliminary hearing is set in his case for 9 a.m. on Oct. 4, court records show.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma autopsy shows Athena Brownfield, 4, was malnourished
