Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Woman Blamed Girl's Death On Husband, Now She's Charged With Murder: Prosecutor

Episode Date: December 13, 2023

Prosecutors in Oklahoma say Alysia Adams initially claimed her husband beat four-year-old Athena Brownfield to death last Christmas. Now they say an autopsy revealed Athena died from pneumonia and malnutrition caused by Adams locking her in a closet and not giving her proper food. Adams now faces a first-degree murder charge. The Law&Crime Network's Angenette Levy looks at the twist in the sad case in this episode of Crime Fix - a daily show that delves into the top stories in the world of crime.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law & Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. A woman in Oklahoma is now charged with first-degree murder and the death of a four-year-old girl after initially claiming that her husband beat that little girl to death on Christmas Day last year. Alicia Adams had faced a second-degree murder charge in the death of little Athena Brownfield. A postal worker found Athena's older sister wandering near Adams' home earlier this year and reported Athena missing to police in Cato County, just outside of Oklahoma City. An alert was issued for Athena and searches launched.

Investigators said in January that Alicia Adams claimed her husband, Ivan Adams, beat Athena to death. He was charged with first-degree murder. Now prosecutors say that story was a complete lie. They claim an autopsy revealed Athena died from pneumonia and malnutrition. So Ivan Adams' murder charge has now been downgraded to second-degree murder from first. Alicia Adams had been charged with child neglect. Now she's charged with first-degree murder. But that charge could be changed to second-degree murder as investigators find new evidence. Prosecutors say Adams was supposed to be looking after Athena and her older sister. Instead, prosecutors say Alicia put

Athena in a closet and withheld proper nutrition from her. Athena's mother faces child neglect charges for leaving her children with the Adamses. I'm Anjanette Levy. It's Wednesday, and this is Crime Fix, law and crimes rundown of the top stories in the world of crime. A suspect could soon be charged in the murder of a synagogue leader in Detroit who was found stabbed to death outside of her home. The suspect in the murder of Samantha Wool was taken into custody on Monday. In Michigan, a suspect can be held for 72 hours without being charged. This suspect is different from an acquaintance of Wool's who was taken into custody last month, questioned, and later released. Wool's murder has shocked the community.

She was a beloved member of the Isaac Agree Synagogue in Detroit and had attended a wedding on the evening of October 21st before returning home. Police said at the time there were no signs of forced entry to Wool's home. They believe she had been stabbed inside the house and then sadly stumbled outside and collapsed. Detroit police posted on X that a warrant had been requested from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. The Post urged caution, though, saying, While this is a very promising step in the investigation, the process of moving from the warrant submission to prosecution can be very involved. We continue to ask for the community's patience in this matter while we

proceed with the important work ahead. We'll keep you posted with any updates on the arrest. A beloved tech worker in San Francisco is dead and her boyfriend is accused of murdering her. Police went to Kimberly Wong's home on November 30th and found her stabbed to death. Earlier this week, the San Francisco DA charged her boyfriend, Scott Fisher, with her murder. Wong's website said when she wasn't working, she loved doing yoga and crosswords and getting outside for a bike ride or a hike. The DA offered her condolences to Wong's family in court. Fisher faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted of Wong's murder.

This next story is absolutely unbelievable. It comes from Ohio, where a grandmother is in jail accused of intentionally firing a gun at her granddaughter and two other family members. The 911 call is heartbreaking. My baby is shot. Your baby? Ma'am? Okay, ma'am, what is going on? Someone shot my baby. Hurry, please. Someone shot your baby? Yes, ma'am, please. Okay, ma'am, they're coming. Ma'am. Mia Harris faces three counts of felonious assault. The granddaughter, who's just six months old, yes, six months old, is in critical condition at the hospital. The sheriff says the baby was shot in the eye at an apartment complex in a suburb north of Cincinnati.

The baby's mother called 911 frantically after she, too, was shot. How's your baby? He's in what? Oh, Harry. Okay, okay, are you? mother called 911 frantically after she too was shot. That little baby is in grave condition and might not make it, according to prosecutors. A woman in Georgia trying to make a so-called Good Samaritan arrest is found guilty of murdering a man she chased down. With regard to count one as to the offense of malice murder, we the jury find the defendant guilty. With regard to count two as to the offense of felony murder, we found we the jury find the defendant guilty. The jury in Hannah Payne's trial deliberated for just two hours before finding her guilty of malice murder and other charges in the death of Kenneth Herring back in 2019. Payne couldn't hold back tears as those verdicts were read. The jury found she defied a 911 call taker who told her not to follow Herring in her car after he hit another vehicle and kept driving.

Payne followed Herring, who witnesses said at the time seemed disoriented. Payne was armed with a gun and claimed she struggled with Herring, who then pulled the trigger and shot himself. This all happened in Clayton County, Georgia. Payne could get life in prison with or without parole when she's sentenced. Interestingly enough, she was actually offered a plea deal before her trial started. An Ohio man is taking his beef with a restaurant over a supposed boneless chicken wing all the way to the state's high court. Back in 2016, Michael Berkheimer ate a boneless chicken wing from Wings on Brookwood

in Hamilton, north of Cincinnati, that ended up actually having a bone in it berkheimer claims that bone tore a hole in his esophagus can you imagine berkheimer says he was left with terrible injuries he has tried to sue the restaurant gordon food services and wayne farms which processes the chicken the justices on the supreme court had a lot of questions for his attorney. Would the same rule apply if it was a fillet of fish then? Which rule you're on? The rule you want that because someone made a representation that the wing was boneless, that if there's a bone in it, that the seller's liable.

Now, Berkheimer's attorney said that might be a bit different since filet literally means without a bone. The questions and answers went on from there. Something like a lactose-free dairy product. If the dairy product is advertised as lactose-free, there is no way somebody with a medical condition where they can't process lactose can take a sip of milk and separate out the lactose from the rest of it. So yes, it does become a foreign substance because once the advertisement and the selling of the product

sets the consumer's reasonable expectation, that's what the consumer expects to get. They expect the boneless chicken. They expect the lactose-free milk. They expect the gluten-free bread. So would the result be different if they had advertised that they were selling chicken strips? So that would depend on the holistic approach. Does the menu say that, hey, perhaps our chicken strips may contain bones? Now, an attorney representing the chicken processor says the restaurant shouldn't be liable no matter what the food is called. We submit that the law should not and the liability of the restaurant and the manufacturer and the supplier should not rise or fall on the fact that this same exact piece of chicken that everybody is going to eat in the exact same way should change based on whether or not

it's called a boneless wing or a chicken tender or a chicken strip. I contacted Michael Berkheimer this morning and his lawyer. They're not doing interviews right now. Two lower courts have already thrown out this suit. It could take months for the high court to issue a decision on whether or not

a jury should hear this case. This next story involves an attempted robbery, a shooting, and get this, bear spray. Police in Gardendale, Alabama, say a woman wearing a mask walked into a jewelry store and said, happy holidays. I don't wanna hurt y'all, but I am. She apparently then blasted employees with bear spray.

The owner of Jeff Dennis Jewelers, Jeff Dennis himself, knew what was going down and pulled out his gun. He shot that woman, identified as Denise Heather Wright, in the shoulder. Wright quickly changed her mind about the robbery, screaming, Stop! I don't want to die! as she ran out of the store. Police tracked down Wright and took her to the hospital for her gunshot wound before charging her with three counts of first-degree robbery and three counts of criminal use of defense spray. I think she'll think twice next time. A Florida man apparently didn't have enough money to pay for the new tattoo he just got, but he did have enough money to bond

out of jail. An affidavit says Max Kredzkant went to Ink God's tattoo parlor in St. Petersburg, Florida earlier this month asking for a tattoo of the iconic Waffle House sign. The store's owner posted a picture on Facebook of the black and white piece saying Kreskant decided against putting the yellow color in because that cost extra. But when the artist finished, Kreskant claimed he didn't have his debit card and didn't have enough money in the bank for the $250 tat. The cops were called and he was arrested for petty theft. He somehow managed to pay the $150 bond and has pleaded not guilty. No surprise, police say he was intoxicated when all of this went down. And that's your Crime Fix for this Wednesday, December 13th, 2023. I'm Anjanette Levy. We hope you have a great night. I'll see you back here tomorrow.