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Zavien Kinyon
WATONGA — Two weeks after the death of a Blaine County toddler, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed in a release that it is examining the case.
Zavien Kinyon was 2 years old when he suffered a head injury in Watonga and was airlifted to Oklahoma City, where he died three days later.
“On June 18, 2021 at approximately 5 p.m., medical personnel were called to the 500 block of N. Hampton to assist with an injured child,” the OSBI wrote. “The child was taken to the Watonga heli-pad and then transported to OU Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City. On June 21, 2021, the child died at the hospital.
“This is an open and ongoing investigation,” the OSBI said.
The statewide investigative agency said it became involved in Zavien’s case on June 19, one day after the injury occurred, at the request of the Watonga Police Department. The WPD confirmed to the Watonga Republican last week that it had requested assistance and handed off the case.
Zavien’s grandmother Saroya Kinyon told the Republican that Zavien was not in her care when the injury occurred, but rather was at a babysitter’s. Kinyon said Zavien had been visiting that babysitter for about a month prior to the injury, going a few times a week while Kinyon and her husband worked on remodeling their Greenfield home.
Kinyon says the babysitters told her the injury was an accident, the result of a fall from a bed. But Kinyon doesn’t believe that, and says doctors are also skeptical of that explanation.
“There’s no way humanly possible that this was a fall from a bunk bed,” Kinyon told the Republican.
Kinyon shared photos that showed a deep, red gash on the toddler’s forehead. Kinyon says doctors also told her that Zavien was without oxygen for an extended period.
Kinyon says Zavien also returned home with a bruised forehead a few days before his fatal injury, though the sitters assured her at the time that he had simply slipped in the backyard.
Because no arrests have been made, the Republican is not naming the babysitters involved at this time.
Zavien’s funeral was last week in Iowa, where the family is originally from. Now, Kinyon wants answers.
The OSBI did not specifically request public assistance in its statement on Zavien’s case. However, the agency operates a confidential tipline at 1-800-522-8017 and can also be reached at tips@osbi.ok.gov.