BLAINE COUNTY — The Blaine County community mourned last week with news that a local boy had died from head injuries sustained days earlier.
Zavien Kinyon was months away from his third birthday when he was injured on Friday, June 18, and airlifted to the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City. He died of his injuries on Monday, June 21.
This past Saturday, local bikers organized a memorial tribute ride for Zavien in Watonga. Zavien’s funeral will be held on Wednesday, June 30, in Iowa, where his family is originally from.
Zavien’s Iowa obituary says the 2-year-old enjoyed playing with cars, trucks and his tablet. “He brought joy to anyone he met with his smile and beautiful blue eyes,” it says.
He had recently relocated to Blaine County with his grandparents, who bought a house in Greenfield in 2020.
Zavien’s grandmother Saroya Kinyon told the Watonga Republican that she wants the world to remember the boy not for how he died, but for how he lived. “He was only 2 years old,” she said, “but he mattered.”
Kinyon told the Republican that Zavien was not under her supervision when the injury occurred, but was in Watonga with a babysitter.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed there is an “open and ongoing” investigation into the death. “The OSBI was requested by the Watonga Police Department to assist with an investigation into an injured child, that later died from the injuries.”
The OSBI was first contacted on June 19, it said. A case worker for the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, who Kinyon said is also involved, was unable to comment.
A family-approved GoFundMe page for Zavien’s funeral expenses can be found at the site by searching “Zavien Paul Kinyon Burial Expenses” or at gofund.me/14b3e417.