Alva Review-Courier -

Two people from Alva have been charged with child abuse of an 11-month-old in their care. Court documents show the child had “excessive bruising” to the head and body including the right wrist, right bicep and left shoulder.

Dylan Michael Garrison Knierim, 26, and Dalores M. Howell, 28, both of Alva, were charged Nov. 13 in Woods County with enabling child abuse by injury, a felony.

According to the case affidavit, the boy, who was not yet walking, was left with the couple by his mother on June 2 while she attended a funeral out of town. She told officers she received a call from Howell on June 5 telling her the child had fallen onto the floor from the couch.

The mother, who lives in Cherokee, picked the boy up on June 6. The Alva Police Department was contacted about 10 p.m. At that time, a Cherokee police officer was at the mother’s home. The mother later took the child to an Enid hospital for an evaluation.

On June 7 a search warrant was executed at the hospital for the child’s medical records. A total of eight bruises were documented on the child at different stages of healing.

Deputy David Cummings with the Woods County Sheriff’s Office conducted interviews with Knierim and Howell. According to the affidavit, both indicated the bruising came from the child falling off the couch.

On July 18, Cummings spoke with a board certified child abuse pediatrician with OU Medical Center who later emailed his findings. He reviewed the case information including medical reports and photographs. He advised based on the information provided that the bruises were inconsistent with that of a single fall, due to multiple bruises on his forehead and around his left eye.

The affidavit notes that both Howell and Knierim have currently and had previous Department of Human Services cases against them at which point their children have been removed from their care. Currently they do not have their children and did not have custody of them when they were caring for the 11-month-old.