Alysia Adams (Caddo County Jail) and Athena Brownfield (OSBI)
A caretaker who allegedly murdered a young girl is now accused of possibly having a romantic relationship with a jailer. Alysia Adams, 31, was moved out of the Caddo County Jail pending an investigation by a state agency, according to deputies in a report from Oklahoma City Fox affiliate KOKH.
“The Caddo County Sheriff’s Office requested the OSBI to investigate possible misconduct conducted at the Caddo County Jail,” a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation told Law&Crime on Sunday. “This is still an ongoing investigation at this time. We are not confirming any names involved.”
Prosecutors originally charged Adams with two counts of child neglect, but updated the case to first-degree murder in December 2023. According to authorities, her story that co-defendant husband Ivon Adams, 37, beat Athena Brownfield, 4, to death on Christmas Day 2022 did not hold up under an autopsy.
Instead, the county medical examiner’s office found “no fatal trauma found” on Athena’s body and that the child had not suffered any broken bones, court documents obtained by Oklahoma City NBC affiliate KFOR show.
The autopsy reportedly determined that the little girl’s manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was “acute pneumonia complicating malnutrition.” The updated charges allege that Alysia Adams was responsible for “putting Athena Brownfield in a closet and depriving the child of proper nutrition.”
In addition to murder, prosecutors also charged Alysia Adams with one count of obstructing an officer for allegedly providing false information to investigators when she told them that her husband had beaten Athena to death. She also faces one count of child neglect in connection to her treatment of Athena’s older sister. The investigation into the then-missing Athena started after a postal carrier found her then-5-year-old sister wandering outside the Adams’ house on Jan. 10, 2023, authorities said.
The first-degree murder count against Ivon Adams was downgraded to second-degree murder. He is also charged with unlawful removal of a body and child neglect.
Athena’s mother, Jasmin Adina Kay Brownfield, was arrested in May 2023 for allegedly abandoning her daughters with Alysia and Ivon Adams.
Jerry Lambe contributed to this report.
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