Inset: Anthony Yonko (Oklahoma County Detention Center). Background: The apartment complex where they were staying when their daughter died (KOCO).
A 38-year-old father in Oklahoma will spend more than two decades behind bars for fatally abusing and starving his 7-year-old daughter, after he brought the severely emaciated child's body to a local hospital last year.
Oklahoma County District Judge Cindy H. Truong on Thursday ordered Anthony Yonko to serve 24 years in a state correctional facility, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Truong handed down the sentence after Yonko pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder of a child in the death of young Violet Mitchell. Following his release, Yonko will be required to serve an additional six years on supervised release.
The victim's mother, Lisa Mitchell, is currently scheduled to go on trial next month on one count of second-degree murder. The victim's uncle, David Yonko, and her aunt, Tiffany Mitchell, both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and each was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Entering the courthouse Thursday, Yonko made one comment, telling a cameraman for Oklahoma City NBC affiliate KFOR, "Don't put me on the news."
As Law&Crime previously reported, officers with the Midwest City Police Department's Investigations Unit at about 1:08 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024, responded to a call from the county medical examiner's office regarding a child brought to the emergency room of Saint Anthony's Midwest Hospital. The victim was transported to the hospital in a personal vehicle at about 11:28 a.m. and pronounced dead shortly after her arrival.
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Medical personnel who treated the child told police she "had signs of rigor mortis and possible injuries internal and external."
"[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.
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.
Yonko 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."
Yonko 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 under arrest and transported him to Midwest City Jail where he was read his Miranda rights and allegedly agreed to speak with detectives a second time.
Clockwise from top left: Lisa Mitchell, Anthony Yonko, David Yonko, Tiffany Mitchell (Oklahoma County Detention Center).
"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, 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.
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.
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.