Davena D. Marx, 53, was charged with one rely of kid abuse and one rely of kid neglect, in keeping with court docket information reviewed by Legislation & Crime.

The costs relate particularly to allegations that she gave the 2 kids, aged 8 and 10 on the time, antipsychotic medicine and locked them in a canine cage in order that she might go away the home. However the investigation uncovered much more unsettling particulars.

In keeping with native CBS affiliate KWTV, Warr Acres Police and a social employee with the Oklahoma Division of Well being Companies first obtained concerned in March 2024 after receiving a tip of kid abuse. Shortly after their arrival, the then-8-year-old woman texted the social employee, “She is imply to us she could be very abusive.”

The kid was then taken outdoors and away from her grandmother, the place she reportedly alleged, “Memaw sells medicine and makes use of them. She makes us keep within the canine cage when she desires to go outdoors by herself.” The women’ then-10-year-old brother corroborated her story, saying he was given prescribed drugs not meant for him by their grandmother.

“When officers arrived, the youngsters, that night time, have been taken away from the house,” stated Assistant Police Chief Jason Allen. However the investigation was simply beginning.

As soon as faraway from the home, the youngsters went into higher element at a “Youngsters’s Secure Clinic,” the place they have been additionally examined. A health care provider on the clinic reported bruising on the again of Marx’s granddaughter described as “in keeping with being hit with a belt.”

Among the many allegations of abuse, the youngsters claimed their grandmother would make them do leaping jacks till their legs and arms gave out.

Neighbors additionally spoke to authorities as a part of the investigation, providing much more tales. One neighbor stated they overheard Marx name the youngsters “nugatory” and “little bastards.” Different neighbors stated there was “a lot of cursing, a lot of screaming, and degrading them.”

That very same neighbor stated they heard the youngsters crying after which noticed them locked inside a crate designed for a big canine. One other neighbor stated that they usually noticed the youngsters with black eyes and that they’d been noticed trying by means of a dumpster for meals scraps.

After acquiring a warrant, police have been capable of entry Marx’s residence, the place they discovered a big canine cage, and prescription remedy in keeping with what the youngsters described.

In keeping with court docket information, “one of many kids was discovered to have been given Seroquel by their grandmother, and each kids have been discovered to have been saved in a canine cage at completely different deadlines.”

Seroquel is described as an antipsychotic that induces drowsiness. The remedy discovered within the residence was prescribed to Marx. She denied ever abusing or drugging her grandchildren, although a blood take a look at revealed her grandson examined optimistic for Seroquel.

Neighbors interviewed stated that they’d by no means witnessed Marx giving the youngsters any medicine, and so they additionally famous that there have been instances the youngsters seemed to be completely satisfied, “working round, having enjoyable with their buddies screaming.”

Marx acquired custody of her grandchildren in 2022 after her son, the youngsters’s father, was murdered in a highway rage taking pictures in 2022. “She stated she obtained them from their mother, and once they have been with their mother, they have been in a foul atmosphere,” one neighbor advised authorities.

NBC affiliate KFOR reported on the highway rage incident in 2022, stating that Kasey Caleb McConnville, 25, shot a number of rounds into the car of Devyn Hinkle, 31, whereas each have been touring the identical course in Oklahoma Metropolis.

By the point police arrived simply after 2:30 p.m., Hinkle was mendacity on the pavement subsequent to his truck. He was rushed to a close-by hospital, however died later that afternoon. McConville fled the scene, however witness descriptions of his hearse-like car led police to him. He was charged with first-degree homicide.

Up till the second of her arrest, KWTV studies that Marx was within the means of transferring to a brand new home within the hopes that she might once more regain custody of her grandchildren. They’d been in state custody for the reason that welfare examine a 12 months prior.