The planned preliminary hearing, which was scheduled Monday, was reset for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at the request of the defendants, a district attorney employee said.
Ashley Marie Cleek, 21, and Kenneth Cleek, 35, each face one count of child abuse and neglect in connection with the incident. Kenneth Cleek is also charged with public intoxication. They have since been released on bonds.
Sequoyah County Sheriff Johnny Philpot said last month that a passerby evidently first discovered the Cleeks, who were passed out or asleep in their car at the Dwight Mission Road off-ramp to Interstate 40 west of Sallisaw.
According to court records, Vian Officer Denis Thomas was first on the scene after receiving a call from dispatch to conduct a welfare check at the vehicle. When Thomas arrived, all four doors to the vehicle and a spare tire rack were open.
Sequoyah County Sheriff's Deputy Lance Yoakum reported that Thomas saw what appeared to be a baby doll on the ground underneath the driver's side door. But when Thomas approached the vehicle, he saw the doll was actually an infant. An 18-month-old was also discovered in a car seat in the back of the vehicle, police reported.
According to court records, the baby had a knot on its head, scratches, and was covered in dirt when it was initially taken to Sequoyah Memorial Hospital in Sallisaw. The baby was later transferred to a Tulsa hospital, where it was diagnosed with a bi-lateral skull fracture.
Thomas also reported seeing Ashley Cleek half in and half out of the driver's seat. Thomas reported that he had to wake up Cleek to retrieve the baby from the ground. When asked why the baby was on the ground, Ashley Cleek allegedly told police that she didn't know.
The children were initially placed in the state's custody. Whether or not they remain in state custody is unknown.
