Woman Arrested for Drugging Grandkids, Locking Them in Dog Cage: Police

Davena D. Marx, 53, was charged with one count of child abuse and one count of child neglect, according to court records reviewed by Law & Crime.

The charges relate specifically to allegations that she gave the two children, aged 8 and 10 at the time, antipsychotic drugs and locked them in a dog cage so that she could leave the house. But the investigation uncovered even more unsettling details.

According to local CBS affiliate KWTV, Warr Acres Police and a social worker with the Oklahoma Department of Health Services first got involved in March 2024 after receiving a tip of child abuse. Shortly after their arrival, the then-8-year-old girl texted the social worker, "She is mean to us she is very abusive."

The child was then taken outside and away from her grandmother, where she reportedly alleged, "Memaw sells drugs and uses them. She makes us stay in the dog cage when she wants to go outside by herself." The girls' then-10-year-old brother corroborated her story, saying he was given prescription drugs not meant for him by their grandmother.

"When officers arrived, the children, that night, were taken away from the home," said Assistant Police Chief Jason Allen. But the investigation was just starting.

Once removed from the house, the children went into greater detail at a "Children's Safe Clinic," where they were also examined. A doctor at the clinic reported bruising on the back of Marx's granddaughter described as "consistent with being hit with a belt."

Among the allegations of abuse, the children claimed their grandmother would make them do jumping jacks until their legs and arms gave out.

Neighbors also spoke to authorities as part of the investigation, offering even more stories. One neighbor said they overheard Marx call the children "worthless" and "little bastards." Other neighbors said there was "lots of cursing, lots of screaming, and degrading them."

That same neighbor said they heard the children crying and then observed them locked inside a crate designed for a large dog. Another neighbor said that they often saw the children with black eyes and that they had been spotted looking through a dumpster for food scraps.

After obtaining a warrant, police were able to access Marx's apartment, where they found a large dog cage, and prescription medication consistent with what the children described.

According to court records, "one of the children was found to have been given Seroquel by their grandmother, and both children were found to have been kept in a dog cage at different points in time."

Seroquel is described as an antipsychotic that induces drowsiness. The medication found in the apartment was prescribed to Marx. She denied ever abusing or drugging her grandchildren, though a blood test revealed her grandson tested positive for Seroquel.

Neighbors interviewed said that they'd never witnessed Marx giving the children any drugs, and they also noted that there were times the children appeared to be happy, "running around, having fun with their friends screaming."

Marx received custody of her grandchildren in 2022 after her son, the children's father, was murdered in a road rage shooting in 2022. "She said she got them from their mom, and when they were with their mom, they were in a bad environment," one neighbor told authorities.

NBC affiliate KFOR reported on the road rage incident in 2022, stating that Kasey Caleb McConnville, 25, shot multiple rounds into the vehicle of Devyn Hinkle, 31, while both were traveling the same direction in Oklahoma City.

By the time police arrived just after 2:30 p.m., Hinkle was lying on the pavement next to his truck. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, but died later that afternoon. McConville fled the scene, but witness descriptions of his hearse-like vehicle led police to him. He was charged with first-degree murder.

Up until the moment of her arrest, KWTV reports that Marx was in the process of moving to a new house in the hopes that she could again regain custody of her grandchildren. They had been in state custody since the welfare check a year prior.