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    • Murder Defendant Backs Out of Plea Agreement in Athena Brownfield Case
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    Murder Defendant Backs Out of Plea Agreement in Athena Brownfield Case

    Online Niel Posted on

    ANADARKO — A caregiver accused of intentionally torturing a 4-year-old child Athena Brownfield until her death she reneged on a deal that would have spared her from possible execution.

    Under the deal, Alysia Adina Adams, 33, was to plead guilty Wednesday to first-degree murder and let a judge decide her sentence. She chose at the last minute to proceed with a jury trial.

    She fought back tears in court as she confirmed to Caddo County District Judge Kory Kirkland that she would not enter a plea.

    Athena died at home in Cyril on Christmas Day 2022 of malnutrition and illness. Prosecutors alleged that Alysia Adams tortured her to death by placing her in a closet and depriving her of adequate food and water.

    Prosecutor Jason Hicks announced in court that he would withdraw his request for the death penalty if she had pleaded guilty. With the deal in place, he plans to continue seeking that sentence at trial.

    Hicks was clearly frustrated that the deal fell through. He spoke to reporters only briefly afterward and did not want to go on camera. He admitted that she backed out of the deal “a few minutes ago.”

    Sentencing would take place at a later date. Prosecutors had planned to seek life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Defense attorney Al Hoch declined to comment on her decision Wednesday. He said the trial probably won’t happen until June or September next year.

    Wednesday’s twist was the latest in the highly publicized case.

    How a search for Athena Brownfield ended

    A massive search for Athena began on January 10, 2023, after a postal carrier found her older sister Adina wandering outside Cyril’s home. The carrier notified the police.

    The sister, then 5 years old, said she had been home alone and was sick of it. The town is about 70 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.

    The search ended when agents with The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation recovered Athena’s remains on January 17, 2023, in the Rush Springs area.

    Her body was found in a black zippered backpack, buried in a shallow grave in a field, according to an autopsy report. The body weighed only 23 kilograms.

    Prosecutors initially believed the girl was beaten to death based on statements made by Alysia Adams about her husband.

    The husband, Ivon Neil Adams III, was charged with first-degree murder because of those statements. Alysia Adams was initially charged only with child neglect.

    Prosecutors changed the charges last December after an autopsy found no evidence of assault.

    Ivon Adams, 38, is now charged with second-degree murder in Athena’s death. The penalty for that crime is 10 years to life in prison.

    He faces two other felony charges. He is charged with child neglect for leaving Athena’s sister without any supervision. He is accused of illegally removing a corpse to bury Athena’s body.

    Alysia Adams also faces a felony count of child neglect on Athena’s sister. She faces a felony charge of obstructing a public official over her statements about her husband.

    The sisters were left by their mother with Ivon and Alysia Adams in April 2021, OSBI said. Mom and Alysia Adams are related.

    The mother, Jasmin Adina Kay Brownfield, 28, of Stillwater, faces two counts of felony child neglect by abandonment.

    How rare is the death penalty for women in Oklahoma?

    Oklahoma has executed only three women, according to historical records. All three were killed by lethal injection in 2001.

    Brenda Andrew, 60, is awaiting execution in Oklahoma. She was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2001 fatal shooting of her estranged husband at their Oklahoma City home. The US Supreme Court is now considering whether to accept her complaints about her 2004 trial. A decision could come as soon as Monday.

    Online Niel
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