The daughter of Sharon Kay Smith of Gore, who was charged last month with abusing her great-nephew, is now facing a felony child abuse charge.
Brenna A. Smith, 30, was released on a $5,000 bond from the Sequoyah County Jail in Sallisaw Thursday, the same day her mother, Sharon Kay Smith, 50, was scheduled to face a preliminary hearing for the alleged abuse.
Kyle Waters and Jeff Sheridan, Sequoyah County assistant district attorneys, said Thursday that they are planning to file amended charges to Sharon Smith's case to also include a felony child neglect count.
Sharon Smith's preliminary hearing was rescheduled for Aug. 18 because, with the additional charge, her attorney needed more time to prepare, Waters said. She pleaded not guilty last month in Sequoyah County District Court and is currently free on a $10,000 bond.
The child's mother, Melanie Smith, and step-father, Roy Albert Smith, who live in Muskogee County near Gore, are also facing felony child abuse, child neglect, and child endangerment counts in Muskogee County.
The discovery of the abuse came after the Department of Human Services (DHS) received an anonymous call about the child and asked Gore police to conduct a welfare check on the four-year-old at the home of Sharon Smith, who was allegedly babysat the child while his parents were working.
Gore Assistant Police Chief Billy White found the child June 25, and DHS took him into custody.
White said earlier this month that the four-year-old could hardly walk, was bruised, and weighed 26 pounds when he was taken into custody at Sharon Smith's home.
According to court records, the child told police that the boy's cousin, Brenna Smith, placed handcuffs on his ankles at the direction of her mother at their Gore home. Brenna Smith allegedly placed the boy in a darkened closet and withheld food from him. The boy also said Brenna Smith spanked him with a belt and stomped on his feet as a form of punishment, "all either in conjunction with Sharon Smith or at her direction," court records indicate.
During earlier police interviews, the child allegedly told police that his mother used handcuffs, along with duct tape, on his ankles to prevent him from "bothering his parents at night." The boy also told police that his parents made him lift weights above his head as punishment for wetting his pants, Muskogee County Sheriff's Deputy Jan Ray said last month.
At the home of his great-aunt, whom he had been staying with for three months, he was allegedly forced to move rocks from one pile to another. Ray said the boy said the rocks were too heavy to pick up so he demonstrated to police how he would crawl on his knees and roll the rocks.
Ray said that the pair are actually half-brother and sister, but were living together as man and wife. They could now face charges of incest. Ray said the two lived next door to their father in a trailer with no water, electricity or septic tank. Preliminary hearings for the couple, who are being held in Muskogee County on no bond, have been set for Nov. 10.
Ray said last month that Sharon Smith has not been charged in the Muskogee County case because they can not find any evidence that she abused the boy in Muskogee County.
Ray said the boy is currently in foster care in Sequoyah County.
"He's gained weight...he weighs 33 pounds now," Ray said. "He can walk by himself now."
