Stephens County mother gets 15 years in federal prison for child abuse

OKLAHOMA CITY — The mother a 3-year-old boy who died in her boyfriend’s care in September 2022 pleaded guilty in federal court for child abuse of her three children, including one who died by her boyfriend’s hand.

Caitlyn Cheyenne Downs, 24, of Duncan, was sentenced Wednesday in the U.S. Western District Court to serve 180 months (15 years) in federal prison after pleading guilty to a count of child abuse in Indian Country, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot also ordered Downs to serve five years of supervised release.

In announcing the sentence, the court noted the seriousness of the offense, adding that Downs was “appallingly dismissive” when she was alerted the children were continuously being abused in 2022, Troester stated.

Downs’ boyfriend, Ryan Tyler Towell, 23, pleaded guilty on Oct. 13, 2023, in Stephens County District to felony charges of first-degree murder and child abuse, records indicate. He was sentenced to serve life in prison without the opportunity for parole and ordered he will not profit from any writings or any other media accounts relating to the case.

Towell is held at the Great Plains Correctional Center in Hinton, according to Oklahoma Department of Corrections records. 

Towell was arrested Sept. 19, 2022, after the 3-year-old boy Downs left in his care was found unresponsive and not breathing.

Police were called the day before to Elm Terrace Apartments, 206 E. Elm. The child was sent by Survival Flight to OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center’s trauma center, where he died late the next day.

When asked how he disciplined the child, Towell told police he spanked with his hand and would drag him by the arms, the affidavit states. He then said he would squeeze the boy’s arms to get him to come along and would pull hair to help him stand up. Towell said he and Downs had only lived together four or five months. He said he’d pushed the 6-year-old two days before for pushing the youngest boy.

The State Medical Examiner determined the boy died from “blunt force trauma,” according to a statement from Jones.

Duncan Police, after learning Downs is Native American from the Choctaw Nation and due to the allegations happening on tribal land, turned the investigation into her possible responsibility over to the FBI for review. A federal indictment charging her with second-degree murder and two counts of child abuse was obtained in the U.S. Western District Court on Dec. 7, 2022, and a warrant was issued for arrest.

The indictment alleged that between May 11, 2022, and September 20, 2022, Downs willfully failed to protect two minor children from harm or threatened harm and that Downs was responsible for the health, safety, and welfare of the children.

Downs left three minor children in the care of Towell on several occasions in 2022, and willfully ignored warning signs that Towell was physically abusive toward the children. In September 2022, one of the children died as a result of a head injury sustained during such abuse.

Downs was charged on Aug. 29, 2023, by a one-count superseding information with child abuse, to which she pleaded guilty.