Full Notification

Thursday evening, an OSBI agent arrested a Woods County couple for child neglect after the death of their 17-year-old severely handicapped adopted son.
April 28, 2014, the Woods County Sheriff’s Office received notification from the Share Medical Center that the teen was dead inside his home at 29411 U.S. Highway near Alva. A deputy went to the home and found the teen dead in his bed. Twana Smart, the child’s adopted mother and caregiver, told the deputy the boy was a shaken baby victim which caused him to be blind, partially deaf, mute, and ate from feeding tubes. She also told the deputy the boy had not seen a doctor for the past year and that his health had been declining for the past 18 months.
January 20, 2015, the deputy investigating the unattended death of the boy received the medical examiner’s report which found the cause of death was a result having been shaken as an infant in conjunction with pneumonia, bed scores, and their possible infection. The autopsy report documents 22 injuries including nine scars of varying size, 12 ulcers, and two abrasions. One ulcer on his body extended to the bone. With this report in hand, the deputy called OSBI for assistance with a child neglect case. During an interview conducted by the OSBI agent, Twana Smart said she felt if she were to have taken the boy for medical care she would have been in trouble for letting the sores get as bad as they were.
February 11, 2015, the OSBI agent received photographs of the autopsy from the medical examiner’s office. Those photos showed what appeared to the agent as severe injuries on the boy’s body. One injury on the boy’s buttocks appeared to be severely decayed and black in color. The agent forwarded the case documents to the OU Children’s Hospital Child Protection Team. A few days later, the agent was informed by the group that the boy was neglected and it was likely that neglect and medical neglect that caused his death. The report went on to say it was very likely that his family’s failure to seek medical care and provide appropriate nutritional and environmental care caused his death through eventual sepsis.
Thursday at approximately 5pm, the OSBI agent arrested Twana Smart (d.o.b. 10/23/1963) and her husband Timothy Smart (d.o.b. 11/29/1959) for neglect of a child. The two were booked into the Woods County jail. If convicted, the two could face up to life in prison.
The boy’s biological father was convicted of shaking him years ago in Las Vegas, Nevada.