According to a probable cause affidavit issued in late March, an Okeene man is under investigation in connection with injuries to his four-month-old child.
The infant was taken to the Okeene Hospital with a fracture to his arm and a bump on his head. Derek Livingston, 33, had taken the child to the ER claiming he was injured when the man took the baby out of his car seat. Personnel in the hospital noted the injuries were consistent with abuse and notified law enforcement.
The child was transferred to OU Children’s Medical and Okeene police called DHS. The next day the Okeene Police Chief received a screen shot of a message from Livingston stating he had hit the child in the head as the pair traveled to pick up a second child because the baby cried the whole way and spit his pacifier out repeatedly. But, he said, when he went to remove the baby from its car seat to feed him, the shoulder strap slid back over his arm and the father did not notice it before lifting the child and he heard a popping sound. He said that was how the baby’s arm was broken.
Livingston said in the message he was headed to the police department right away, but after three days had not shown up. The probable cause for an arrest warrant was issued for Livingston March 22. He was arrested March 23 and released the next day on $50,000 bond.
Livingston was also named in a child neglect case in Woodward County with a different child in 2019. Court records show he was placed on deferred judgement in that case, set to end in June. Deferred judgments mean if the accused stays out of trouble with the law, they are not prosecuted to the full extent for the infraction. However, that case has been accelerated and Livingston has a hearing date set on it for April 11.
His initial appearance on the felony child abuse charge was April 4 and his next court appearance in Blaine County is set for June 15.