The Misery Machine - The Case of Athena Brownfield

Starting point is 00:00:00 Athena Alexandria Brownfield was born in Lawton, Oklahoma on September 6, 2018 to Wesley Robert Brownfield and Jasmine Adina K. Faircloth Brownfield. She was described as having wispy, light brown hair and blue eyes. She was a shy little girl who loved the color purple, the song Baby Shark, coloring, and playing dress-up. She was very close to her sister, Adina, who was a year older than her. The two of them were described as being joined at the hip. Although both girls had living parents, Athena and Edina lived with caretakers in Surreal, Oklahoma. Cyril is a small town of less than 900 residents located about 70 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The girls lived with a young couple, Ivan Adams, and Alicia Galvin Adams, and had done so for some time.

Starting point is 00:00:50 Alicia Adams was a self-professed beauty influencer on TikTok. She posted dozens of videos, most of which consisted primarily of Alicia Lottoms. lip-syncing the lyrics to popular songs while curling her lips at the camera and wearing makeup. Athena and Adina did not appear in her videos, but she did include the children that she shared with Ivan and Elise's two of them. Ivan and Alicia also had four biological children of their own, two girls and two boys. This family of eight all lived together in a rented single-family home on a corner lot located at 225 West Nebraska Avenue. While in the couple's care, Athena referred to Ivan as both dad and Uncle Ivan, and Alicia as both mom and Ali. In actuality, Alicia was their mother's first cousin.

Starting point is 00:01:34 Allegedly, Jasmine signed a handwritten note placing her girls in the care of the Adams couple in April of 2021 as she was suffering from mental health issues. It's important to note that there was no legal court order mandating this guardianship. According to Jasmine, she did not want her girl's father, Wesley Brownfield, to have custody due to prior abuse allegations against him. However, according to their paternal grandmother Penny Brownfield, the biological father had been prevented from seeing the children by Jasmine. Penny claimed Jasmine hid the kids from them often. Jasmine, who was adopted as a teenager, also seemed to have a strained relationship with her adoptive family, the Faircloths. So in her mind, without paternal or maternal grandparents that she could lean on in her time of need,

Starting point is 00:02:16 Jasmine left her daughters with Ivan and Alicia. Allegedly, Jasmine never visited the children while they were in the care of the Adams family, and she had not spoken to them. for up to nine months. She missed their birthdays as well as holidays. Additionally, Jasmine never sent any money to help pay for their care. Although the girls were left in the care of the Adams couple, care isn't exactly what Ivan and Alicia provided. During the 20 months they stayed with the Adams family, the girls were never taken to the doctor, and Edina was never enrolled in school. The couple also left the girls home on more than one

Starting point is 00:02:50 occasion alone all by themselves. Keep in mind they were five and four years old. To make matters worse, Ivan and Alicia had recently split up, leading to an incredibly toxic living environment. On Tuesday, January 10th, 2023, at around 2 p.m., a postal worker by the name of Macy Turner found Adina, now five years old, wandering near her home. The little girl was crying and claimed to be hungry, alone, and she didn't know where her four-year-old sister was. The postal worker brought Adina to her West Nebraska Avenue address,

Starting point is 00:03:22 but found it empty. There was no adult to be found anywhere. In fact, the children were also not home. Fearing the worst, Ms. Turner, of course, contacted the authorities. Surro Police Chief Garrett Rainey responded to the scene and took Adina for a forensic interview, which is a special type of interview conducted by trained professionals to establish, among other things, whether a child has been mistreated. According to official documents, Edina told officials that she was left at home and was tired of being alone. She hadn't seen her little sister Athena in two days.

Starting point is 00:03:57 Chief Rainey contacted the Adams family's landlord and was able to track down the adults pretty quickly. According to Alicia, she left all six of the children in the care of Ivan. Apparently, no one knew where Alicia even was at first. She just sort of took off. Allegedly, she had left home a week prior and had been spending time with her new boyfriend,

Starting point is 00:04:17 Bladen Davis, who lived about two hours away. What's interesting is that just a few days prior on Saturday, January 7th, Ivan showed up in Arizona to see family members with his four biological children in tow. Some sources indicate it was the day prior. Allegedly, he told family members that Adina and Athena had been dropped off with their grandparents. We know that's not true. Adina was wandering about her neighborhood and their grandparents hadn't seen the girls in years. Adina claimed she hadn't seen her sister in two days, but based on the timeline of events, it was more like four. days. So where was Athena? And why had Ivan abandoned a five-year-old girl at home for almost a week?

Starting point is 00:04:56 Athena didn't meet the criteria for an Amber alert, so authorities put out a missing and endangered child notification. This would send a notification out to anyone within a 15-mile radius of Cyril. Athena was last seen wearing a butterfly sweater and was described as being three feet tall, 45 pounds, and light brown hair with blue eyes. Initially, there was some confusion about her age, Although Athena was four years old, her caregivers believed she was only three. It's unclear whether they were attempting to mislead law enforcement or if they really just didn't know. Another odd fact is that there was a rumor that Athena may have been autistic, but again, those closest to her couldn't confirm this. Some simply claim that she was just very shy and quiet.

Starting point is 00:05:39 Adina was placed into protective custody in the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, assisted by the Caddo County Sheriff's Office and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and later the FBI, and Center for Missing and Exploited Children, launched a search for Athena Brownfield. A command post was set up at the Family Life Church in Cyril, where community members could volunteer to help with the search or let law enforcement know if they had video doorbell footage that could be helpful.

Starting point is 00:06:05 Over 250 volunteers mobilized to find the four-year-old. When you take into account the fact that Cyril had less than 900 residents, it really shows how many concerned neighbors really stepped up to try to bring Athena home. That evening, the home on West Nebraska Avenue was taped off and a search warrant was executed. Law enforcement searched throughout the night for the lost little girl, and citizens were asked to please stay inside so that infrared tools might pick up signs of Athena. On Wednesday, January 11th, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol Emergency Response Team,

Starting point is 00:06:39 aided by volunteers, conducted a grid search scouring nearby vacant lots, ponds, and fields. In the afternoon of the same day, two bloodhound teams from the Oklahoma Department, Department of Corrections were brought in to search specific areas. In addition, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation held a press conference to discuss what they knew thus far. As far as any updates from the briefing from this morning, we've added some additional partners that are coming to assist with the investigation, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Starting point is 00:07:11 They're helping us out. The Comanche Nation is coming to help, as well as Fort Sill is providing some soldiers for the search operations that OHP is running with their ERTs. We've been out all day conducting those grid searches with volunteers, and we really appreciate their support along with OHP support in managing that effort. We are collecting items that could be relevant. I'm not going to call them evidence, but we are finding things around town that could be helpful in this case. One of the questions from this morning was about the health

Starting point is 00:07:47 condition of the five-year-old that was found yesterday. Excuse me. We can report that she did not require medical care at the time. Of course, she was frightened. That goes without saying when you're a five-year-old. She's currently in protective custody with the state, but she did not require any sort of medical care at the time. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol was requested last night,

Starting point is 00:08:11 and obviously we're here to assist. And so we brought all of the resources that are available to be able to come and assist. We've been in the air with helicopter with infrared. We've been on the ground. Obviously, you've seen around town. There are a lot of grid searches on foot going around and on full wheelers, things like that. Two days into the search on January 12th, trash service and Cyril was suspended and officials

Starting point is 00:08:39 began examining surveillance footage from around the town. At 4.12 p.m. on January 12th, officers arrested Alicia Adams. on two counts of child neglect, one for her treatment of Adina and the other for her treatment of Athena. Her SUV was towed from the house and seized this evidence. She later pled not guilty and her bond was set for half a million dollars. Shortly after, Ivan Adams was arrested on a fugitive from justice charge in Glendale, Arizona. On Friday, January 13th, documents were released that showed exactly what Ivan's fugitive from justice charge was all about. He was being charged with first-degree homicide and child neglect in the state of Oklahoma.

Starting point is 00:09:16 victim, Athena Brownfield. Ivan was initially held at the Maricopa County Jail on $1 million cash bond, but was extradited to Oklahoma on January 19th and was subsequently denied bond. New details in the case involving the missing four-year-old girl from Surill. Court documents released yesterday reveal Ivan Adams, who was arrested in Arizona on Thursday, was taken into custody on an outstanding felony warrant for murder and child neglect. Evidence of the offense was found in his possession. in his possession, including a cell phone.

Starting point is 00:09:48 While the intense search for Athena continues, McIntyre Law Chopper 4 captured authorities scouring an open field in rural Grady County. Neighbors say Ivan's wife, Alicia Adams, was known to stay on or around this property. Of course, right now, like I said, the search continues for Athena Brownfield, and the OSBI is in charge of that search.

Starting point is 00:10:09 On the evening of Saturday, January 14th, community members gathered in surreal to hold a candlelight. vigil for Athena Brownfield. Last few days have been very trying for our communities. The fire chief spoke on behalf of the town saying he believes this tough time will make surreal stronger. Residents brought their own candles and extras for others braving the cold for this message of hope. Letting everybody know that we know Athena is coming home.

Starting point is 00:10:33 And thanking anyone from surrounding communities or throughout Oklahoma who've helped in the search. Residents were very emotional tonight sharing hugs and tears. It's just a way for us to kind of be refreshed and show some hope and some some support for our communities. On January 16th, less than a week after Athena was reported missing, officials with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation announced that the search had turned into a recovery mission. Ground penetrating radar equipment was brought into search properties in neighboring Grady County, including a property near a home where Ivan and Alicia

Starting point is 00:11:08 had previously lived in Rush Springs. Sadly, on January 17th, the body of a small child was found buried in a shallow grave on this property. On January 26th, the medical examiner officially identified the remains found as Athena Brownfield. In just the past hour, the medical examiner has positively identified the remains of four-year-old Athena Brownfield. The little girl's body found buried on land in Rush Springs back on January 17th, a week after she was reported missing. State agents won't say anything else about the case because of a gag order. Athena's caregivers are both charged in connection to the case. Though this was not known to the public at the time, during an interview with police after her arrest on January 12th, Alicia waved her Miranda rights and confessed that

Starting point is 00:12:01 at their home on December 25th, her husband Ivan beat Athena to death. She alleged that Ivan held the little girl up by her arms until she was not moving and her eyes were barely open. He then laid her on the ground and punched her at least three more times in the chest. She claimed that after the final punches, Athena never moved again. Alicia said that at 1 a.m. on December 26, Ivan left the house with Athena and came back later without her. She claims that when he returned, he told her he had buried her near a fence line that was next to their old residence in Rush Springs, and that he had placed a large broken branch over the burial site. Law enforcement noted that although the evidence they had didn't entirely match Alicia's confession,

Starting point is 00:12:46 her information did help lead them to Athena's remains. Instead of this taking place at 1 a.m., police claimed it was later, sometime between 4.15 and 5.30 a.m., and that Ivan's phone records indicated that he traveled from 225 West Nebraska Avenue to a site near Rush Springs. Alicia's lawyer argued that she could not get a fair trial with all the social media attention and scrutiny. So on January 19, 23, Judge David Stevens instituted a gag order, which means officials associated with the case are forbidden to make public comments and new information will only be available

Starting point is 00:13:19 from court proceedings. While Ivan's cruelty was unthinkable, the medical examiner's report made it clear that Little Athena suffered more than just a horrible beating. According to the report, Athena's official cause of death was labeled acute pneumonia complicating malnutrition and was ruled a homicide. This is another case of the official evidence differing from Alicia's confession. The medical examiner's report also states that there was no evidence of physical lethal trauma. That means that either Alicia made up her story about Ivan beating Athena or Ivan beat her,

Starting point is 00:13:55 but the beating wasn't as lethal as the other ailments that were tormenting Athena's small body. Athena's body was small, much smaller than a four-year-old should be. She was found buried inside a Reebok backpack, and according to the official report, the girl in the backpack together weighed only 25 pounds. When removed, her remains weighed 23 pounds, and her height was 36 inches. So for comparison, an average 4-year-old would weigh 35 pounds and would be 39 inches tall. Athena was malnourished. Her body wasn't getting nearly enough nutrients and energy,

Starting point is 00:14:27 not enough to fight off the disease that was ravaging her lungs, and certainly not enough for her to grow. In addition to her acute pneumonia, Athena tested positive for numerous viruses. The complicating malnutrition cited by the medical examiner meant that the likelihood of death in a malnourished child suffering from pneumonia is significantly higher than in a child who gets enough healthy food to eat. Athena was not taken to the doctor at all during the 20 months she spent with Alicia and Ivan. Even though they clearly recognized she wasn't growing like a healthy four-year-old and her

Starting point is 00:14:56 poor body was riddled with disease. But Ivan and Alicia weren't the only two to pay for her. their crimes against the little girls. On May 4th, 2023, Jasmine Brownfield, the biological mother, was also charged with two felony counts of child neglect by abandonment, one for abandoning Athena, and the other for abandoning Adina. Her bond was set for $100,000. She was arrested in Payne County and extradited the next day to Caddo County. She was released on May 22nd, but still has to attend upcoming court dates. As of the date of this recording, Ivan and Alicia are still being held in the Caddo County Jail and it seems that they will likely stay there until their trials.

Starting point is 00:15:37 Preliminary hearings are scheduled for October 4th, 2023. As this case is still ongoing, we'll keep an eye out for updates as they become available. Athena's funeral service was held on January 25th, 2023 at the Stride Bank Center in Enid, Oklahoma. It was officiated by Senator Roger Thompson. mourners wore purple ribbons over their hearts because purple was Athena's favorite color. Athena's short life was celebrated with tears, prayer, and songs like, yes, Jesus loves me. Speaking of Athena, Senator Thompson said, I want this little girl to feel like she was loved. Oklahoma loves a little precious girl that many of us never met. Three women, Taylor Sharp Mack, Daphne Chapman, and Denise Jones were so touched by Athena's story.

Starting point is 00:16:22 They felt compelled to create a permanent memorial for her. They contacted city leaders and got permission to use Surreal Town Plaza. The Nelson Monument Company in Guthrie, Oklahoma agreed to build, etch, and install a memorial bench for free. The women worked together to clean the plaza, plant flowers, and place butterfly lawn ornaments. They plan to continue beautifying the area. In the future, they want to add an angel sculpture with a plaque that says, Stop CA before it's too late. They also plan to hold a memorial event every year on September 6th, Athena's birthday.

Starting point is 00:16:54 The Athena Brownfield Memorial Bench was officially installed on June 12th, 20th. 23 at the Surreal Town Plaza. Daphne Chapman hopes that someday Adina will be able to visit the bench honoring the sister she loves so much. If Adina visits, she will see a photo of Athena with her eyes slightly raised to the sky and be able to read the following inscription on the bench. Little sister Athena Alexandria Brownfield. There is no footprint too small to leave an imprint on this world.

Starting point is 00:17:23 Sweet little Athena taken from us too soon. Your smile was contagious. Your laugh could fill a room. When God was searching for the most beautiful angel, he found you. Love conquers all our shy little butterfly, now resting in the arms of Jesus, dancing in the sky.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Athena Brownfield

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