Autopsy report sheds new light on death of 7-year-old child from Midwest City

By Chantelle Navarro

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    MIDWEST CITY, Oklahoma (KOCO) — An autopsy report sheds more light on what killed a 7-year-old girl in Midwest City.

Family members admitted that Violet Mitchell, 7, was starving and beaten frequently. She couldn’t walk or feed herself, according to documents obtained by KOCO.

The newly released autopsy report, which was exclusively obtained by KOCO, shows that the child swallowed a baby bottle top, which led to her death.

The child’s mom, Lisa Mitchell, and her boyfriend, Anthony Yonko, were arrested for child neglect and aggravated abuse charges.

“(The) fact that she suffered, and nobody was there to help her? It’s just senseless,” Kimberlie Pointer, a neighbor living near the family, said.

When Violet Mitchell’s body came to the medical examiner, they said she was in a hospital gown, wrapped in a blanket with “sunken eyes, wearing a diaper that was otherwise sized for a 3-year-old.”

She weighed just 29 pounds.

Her cause of death was deemed “failure to thrive” after finding a baby bottle blocking her small intestines.

She also had a bacterial infection and injuries to her cheek, shoulder and left leg.

The arrest report showed that one of her cousins told investigators that Lisa Mitchell beat her daughter often, mostly with a broomstick, and would tie her legs with zip ties to the crib.

The cousin said she would untie Violet Mitchell when she could and try to dig glue out of the girl’s mouth.

Anthony Yonko’s brother, David, and Lisa Mitchell’s sister, Tiffany, were also arrested in connection to the case. The charges for all four individuals are now second-degree murder.

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services could not comment further on the case, but it sent KOCO a statement.

“This child’s death is a profound tragedy, and we are grateful to our law enforcement and medical partners whose efforts will help us and the community better understand the circumstances surrounding her death,” DHS said in a statement.

Yonko and Mitchell have other children that are now under the care of DHS. They have pled not guilty to the charges.

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