Three-Year-Old Dies In Okmulgee Foster Home's Care

By Tara Vreeland, The News On 6

OKMULGEE, OK -- An Okmulgee County woman is under investigation in connection with the death of a 3-year-old girl in her care. 

The Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office identifies the girl as Kyra Zubah. 

Kyra was placed into foster care when she was 11 weeks old and lived with foster mother Christine Atchinson in Edmond until four months ago. 

That's when Kyra and her 4-month-old sister, Heaven, were removed from that home and put into the Creek Nation tribal foster home of Sharon Whitecloud.

“What I knew of Kyra was that she was a very funny little girl.  She liked to play, as all kids do and she just had her little quirks,” said Blake Moses, a friend of the Atchinson family.

Authorities say Kyra was one of four foster children in the care of Whitecloud who lives in a home near Okmulgee.

On Friday, Kyra suffered a head injury.  Authorities say she was not taken to Saint Francis until Saturday, when she was put on life support.  She died on Tuesday.

Now, the Okmulgee Sheriff's Office is investigating Whitecloud.

The Atchinson family says they are heartbroken.

“I think everybody is just really shocked that the worst came true. You know we had all really hoped the best for Kyra when her situation came out of our hands,” Moses said.

It's been difficult to get the facts of the case.  The News On Six called a Muscogee (Creek) Nation public relations representative, the Creek Nation attorney general, and the Creek Nation Child Welfare Office.  Each agency said, “no comment.”

“I think that the message to anybody that hears her story is or reads about it is Kyra was cheated out of any chance of benefit by the very people who claimed to be her own,” said Moses.

Whitecloud has not been arrested or charged with anything, but the Okmulgee County Sheriff's Office says the investigation is ongoing, and it's investigating the case as a homicide.

The other three children in Whitecloud's care were removed from the home.

The News On 6 will continue to follow-up on this story and report if any arrests are made.