mike should be back soon

[anatine]

Naked toddler found locked in dog kennel


By Chris Cordt and April Hill

TULSA, Okla. —

The picture of what happened to the children becomes more clear as KRMG finds out more details.

Tulsa Police were called to a home in the 4900 block of N. Frankfort Pl. late Sunday evening.

The neighbor called 911 to say the 4-year-old boy from next door was outside screaming because temperatures were in the 40's and he was locked outside in the nude. KRMG spoke with one of the neighbors. She says, "All she heard was this little boy screaming for his dad saysin 'I'm cold, I'm scared, let me in'"

When Police pulled up, Ofc. Leland Ashley says officers could hear the screams from another child inside. Ashley says, "As they approached the house they could hear screaming and crying coming from inside."

Cops saw an 18-month-old girl naked, covered in feces and locked in a dog cage.

Officers, along with one of the neighbors, kicked in the back door of the home. That’s where they found another naked girl.

The arresting officer says in the report, “While clearing the house, we found another naked toddler asleep in a bed in the master bedroom.”

The officer found her father, 47-year-old William Todd Lewallen, passed out in the bed next to her.

Lewallen says he took a narcotic pain medicine, a muscle relaxer and an anti-seizure medication and “laid down to take a rest.”

Officers also spotted an open beer next to the bed.

The officer says, "The screaming child in the dog kennel did not wake the defendant nor did the officers kicking the door down to rescue the toddler in the dog cage."

Neighbors tell KRMG the home had no heat and little food.

Lewallen was arrested for felony child neglect. He is being held on a $50,000 bond. His next court date is set for November 19.

The 3 children were taken into Department of Human Services custody.

Tulsa Police tell KRMG that the children's mother is not a suspect at this time but that the investigation remains open.