Inset: Lisa Mitchell (Oklahoma County Detention Center). Background: The apartment complex where Mitchell lived when her daughter died (KOCO).
An Oklahoma mother, aged 32, faces over 20 years of imprisonment following the tragic death of her 7-year-old daughter, whom she severely abused and starved. The child’s frail body was brought to a local hospital last year, sparking the investigation.
Last week, Oklahoma County District Judge Cindy H. Truong sentenced Lisa Mitchell to a 24-year term in a state prison, according to court documents examined by Law&Crime. This decision was rendered after Mitchell admitted guilt in the charge of second-degree murder concerning her daughter, Violet Mitchell. Once her prison term concludes, Mitchell will also undergo six years of supervised release.
The girl’s father, Anthony Yonko, similarly pled guilty to the same accusation last month, receiving an identical sentence from Judge Truong.
Additionally, Violet’s uncle, David Yonko, and aunt, Tiffany Mitchell, also accepted charges of second-degree murder, each receiving a 20-year prison sentence.
As reported by Law&Crime, on Friday, August 2, 2024, at approximately 1:08 p.m., the Investigations Unit of the Midwest City Police Department responded to a report from the county medical examiner’s office. This was concerning a child who had been brought to the emergency room at Saint Anthony’s Midwest Hospital. The child arrived at the hospital in a private vehicle around 11:28 a.m. and was declared dead shortly after arrival.
Medical staff attending to the child noted that she exhibited signs of rigor mortis and had potential internal and external injuries.
“[A doctor] stated when working on the child numerous amounts of black and dark red secretions came from the child’s mouth when pushing on her stomach area,” the affidavit states. “The child was extremely malnourished weighing only 25 pounds and approximately 37 inches tall.” The average weight for a female child that age is about 50 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Anthony Yonko told police that he, Mitchell, and their children had been staying at the Vista Green apartments in the 7000 block of E. Reno Avenue, about seven miles east of Oklahoma City. From there, police say, the father’s story continued to change.
The father initially claimed he went to sleep at about 9 p.m. on Aug. 1, while Mitchell and the victim slept on a small couch in the same room, per the affidavit. He said he woke up around 9 a.m. the following day and Mitchell told him the victim was “not moving and was sick and needed to go to the hospital.”
He then claimed his “friend” took him, Mitchell, and the victim to the hospital but he was unable to provide a name or phone number for the friend. He also said that they had been feeding the victim “crackers and soup because she possibly had the flu,” though they had not been to a doctor since the girl was “much younger.”
Police placed Yonko and Mitchell under arrest and transported them to Midwest City Jail where they were read their Miranda rights and allegedly agreed to speak with detectives.
“During the interview Anthony changed his story numerous times, stating the only people in the apartment were him, Lisa, and [the victim],” police wrote in the affidavit. “He later stated Lisa’s sister, boyfriend, and two or three other kids were in the apartment when he woke up this morning to Lisa saying that [the victim] was not moving. Anthony said that Lisa was playing with [the victim] this morning but then stated that she was not moving,”
Asked about his daughter’s emaciated state, Anthony Yonko allegedly claimed that the victim weighed 50 pounds only four or five days prior and was “completely healthy,” further stating that he “feeds the child all of the time.” He had no explanation as to why she weighed only 25 pounds and was “very unhealthy” at the time of her death.
Anthony Yonko further clarified that his brother was the person who took him and his family to the hospital, adding that the brother had been staying in their residence as well.
Anthony Yonko’s brother allegedly told police that on the morning of Aug. 2, Yonko was “freaking out” and said they needed to get the victim to the hospital. The brother said he dropped the parents and child at the hospital and drove away because “he was afraid and needed to get to work.”
A subsequent autopsy reportedly determined that Violet died after swallowing the “rubber top of a baby bottle nipple” that completely blocked the first part of her small intestines.
The autopsy report from the Oklahoma City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner also noted that the 7-year-old victim had “sunken eyes,” weighed just 29 pounds, and measured 40 inches in length, referring to her as “essentially skin on bone.” She was wearing a diaper sized for a 3-year-old when she was brought to the hospital on the morning of Aug. 2, 2024.
The medical examiner listed Violet’s cause of death as “failure to thrive.”
“It is unclear to this examiner if the intestinal obstruction by the foreign body is accidental or intentional,” the medical examiner’s report stated.
One of the victim’s cousins reportedly told authorities that on multiple occasions, Violet had her “mouth glued shut” by her parents.
