Woman sentenced on child neglect charge

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Jamie Berry, The Norman Transcript, Okla.
·2 min read
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May 1—A Moore woman was sentenced Wednesday in Cleveland County District Court in a child neglect case that was reported in January 2020.

Leza Marie Dixon, 32, plead guilty to one count of child neglect Nov. 4 before District Judge Thad Balkman, and he sentenced her to 10 years suspended and 120 days in jail.

Dixon was charged with Shawn Glen Beller, 38, of Moore, after the two of them deprived two boys of food.

According to a court affidavit, Moore police were referred by the Department of Human Services around Jan. 29, 2020, to investigate a claim that Dixon and Beller had neglected two boys, then ages 8 and 11. Both victims were forensically interviewed and disclosed that Dixon and Beller had starved them.

According to the affidavit, a school counselor and some neighbors reported seeing the two boys constantly digging through trash cans for food. A doctor examined the boys and determined they had suffered from "nutritional neglect," and they were listed in the 1 and 6 body mass index percentiles.

During an interview, Dixon said that the boys had gone without lunch six days a week and were only given dinner five days a week. She also said that often, she, Beller and two other children would sit down to eat while the two victims were forced to go to their room and stand in the corner.

According to the affidavit, when asked if she thought the two boys were being neglected and abused, she responded "Yeah." Dixon reportedly made no attempts to remove the boys from the neglect.

Beller, who plead guilty April 7, is set for sentencing at 2 p.m. June 2 with Balkman.

Jamie Berry covers police and court news for The Transcript. Reach her at jberry@normantranscript.com, 366-3532 or @JamieStitches13.

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