Oklahoma Stepfather Charged After 11-Year-Old Gives Birth

Welcome back to an all new episode of Red Flags. If you’re new here, welcome. I’m so glad you’re joining me today. I’m your host, Sage Alexandria, and today’s case is a heavy one. We’re talking about an 11year-old girl in Oklahoma who gave birth inside a home that investigators later described as deplorable.

This story involves charges against her stepfather, her mother, her grandmother, and now even a neighbor. And it’s one of the most heartbreaking cases I’ve ever covered. Before we dive in, I want to give a serious trigger warning because this case involves the abuse and pregnancy of a child and it’s deeply disturbing and while I will be careful in how I share it, it is still incredibly heavy.

So, please take care of yourself as you listen. Let’s start with the family. Dustin Joelle Walker, 34 years old, and Sher Don Walker, 33 years old, were raising six children together in their household. The ages of the children are 11, 9, 7, 6, 4, and 2. So, six kids in total. But here’s an important detail. The two oldest children were from a previous relationship that Sherry had, and the four younger children were hers with Destin.

So, in that house, you had a mix of siblings, but all of them were being raised under the same roof in the same conditions. And honestly, it already gives me the chills to think about how all six of those kids were living in that environment together. Because the conditions inside the home, y’all, they were beyond anything you’d expect children to be living in.

It was a small blue house, but inside investigators found there hadn’t been running water for years, nearly 2 to 3 years. The floors were literally covered in dog feces. There was trash stacked up everywhere, and the smell hit you the second you walked through the door. Some of the kids didn’t even have proper clothes to wear.

Neighbors said the house was filthy, and law enforcement went even further, calling it deplorable. This is getting to him. And I’ve talked, I said, “They’re not doing nothing. They’re not helping them kids.” and I’ve called. They have no running water for the last 2 or 3 years. They have dogs in the house. They have cats in the house.

Six children. The oldest is 11 and everybody else is young. And I just keep asking myself, how did no one step in sooner? How many how many people saw that house, saw kids going in and out, and just walked away? It honestly blows my mind how often people stay silent in situations like this. And look, I have family in Oklahoma and I know that there are parts of certain towns where houses like this exist and sometimes people look the other way because they’ve gotten used to it.

But normal or not, there is nothing normal about children growing up in conditions like that. Among the six children in that house, one detail stands out. The 11-year-old was not attending school. She may have been homeschooled or simply unenrolled, so there was no outside adult who might have noticed any warning signs.

She also hadn’t seen a doctor for over a year. Meanwhile, the four younger siblings, aged between 2 and 9, were presumably in the same situation, unseen by teachers or medical professionals, living day in and day out in the same unsafe environment. But on August the 16th, everything came to a breaking point because the child, the 11-year-old, went into labor and delivered a baby at home.

No doctors, no nurses, no hospital care, just a child giving birth inside a house that was already unsafe and unsanitary. Things became so urgent that EMTs were called to the house. And when paramedics arrived, they were stunned. They discovered an 11-year-old who had just given birth. That 911 call is what set everything else in motion.

And honestly, it’s terrifying to think if that baby hadn’t been born that day, how much longer would this have stayed hidden. The children were all immediately removed from the home. The newborn was taken into state custody along with the other kids. And then investigators began piecing together what had happened. Okay, so at first both Dustin and Sherry were charged with six counts of felony child neglect each.

That was even before the DNA results came back because the conditions of the home alone were enough to justify those charges. No running water, dog feces on the floor, no medical care for the kids, and an 11-year-old giving birth without a single doctor involved. All of that is neglect, plain and simple. But investigators also had bigger questions.

Who was the father of this baby? So, from the start, suspicion fell on Dustin. He was the only adult male in the home. the stepfather with daily access to this child. And unfortunately, in these cases, it’s often someone close to the victim, not an outsider. So, that’s why authorities push for DNA and paternity testing.

And here’s where it gets even more twisted. The family and even the grandmother, Michelle, Justice, tried to claim that the pregnancy could have been the result of a relationship with a 12-year-old boy. Michelle even said publicly that the little girl told her this. We didn’t know this was happening. None of us.

How do you think your granddaughter got pregnant? She keeps telling us that it was the little 12year-old boy that I used to keep my babysit. She keeps telling everybody that it was him. They got curious is all I know. They keep saying that we knew about my granddaughter’s pregnancy and we did not. Now, whether that was a genuine claim or an attempt to deflect attention away from Dustin, I don’t know.

But investigators didn’t buy it. They ran the test and the science didn’t lie. DNA testing confirmed that Dustin Walker, freaking Kreo, the stepfather, was in fact the father of the newborn. Disgusting, sickening, unbelievable, unimaginable. Once that came back, the charges escalated. Dustin was charged with an additional sexual abuse of a child under 12 along with multiple counts of the neglect that he already had.

These are among the most serious charges under Oklahoma law. And if convicted, he faces up to life in prison. And I’ll just say good, because if anyone deserves to never walk free again, it’s someone who would do this to a child. Sherry was arrested right alongside Dustin in those first days. Initially, just like Dustin, she was charged with six counts of felony child neglect. And honestly, you can see why.

An 11-year-old gave birth in her house. She wasn’t taking her daughter to school. She wasn’t taking her to doctor’s appointments. There was no medical care, no prenatal care, and nothing. The home had no running water. It was covered in animal waste, and there were six children living in those conditions.

That alone was more than enough for prosecutors to file the neglect charges against her, like I said before. But when the DNA results came back confirming Dustin as a father, prosecutors took it further. Sherry’s charges were upgraded to include enabling sexual abuse of a child. Prosecutors say that as a mom, she had a duty to protect her child, and she failed to do so.

She allowed her daughter to remain isolated. She didn’t take her to the doctor. She didn’t send her to school. And she didn’t intervene in any way. And this is where my frustration really comes out because as a mom myself, your number one job is to protect your child. And when you don’t, when you choose not to, then you’re part of the abuse.

The girl’s grandmother, Michelle Justice, was also arrested and charged with six counts of neglect, one for each child. Authorities allege she also had responsibility that she knew or should have known and that her silence and failure to report made her legally responsible. And I’ll be honest, I don’t buy for a second that she didn’t know.

She can’t be around kids daily, especially your grandchildren who you’ve seen grow up and not see the signs. And it doesn’t end there. A neighbor who often cared for the Walker children, has also been charged with six counts of neglect, according to court documents. This neighbor saw the 11-year-old almost daily before the birth and even helped care for the younger children, but still never reported the pregnancy.

The state says she had a duty to report what she saw and failed to act. And again, I’m left asking how. How do you see a child nearly every day and notice what’s going on? Or worse, notice and just keep quiet. Before these current charges, Dustin had already had run-ins with the law.

He was previously charged after a firearm went off inside the home, though that case resulted only in fines. He was also charged in a separate incident with domestic abuse in front of a minor, but that charge was later dismissed. As for Sherry, she had no prior criminal history before this case that I could find.

Now, moving forward, charging Dustin will mainly come from the evidence in this case. It’s going to come down to the medical records and the vital records. These records will establish how old the 11-year-old was on the date of her delivery and how old she would have been at the time of conception. That timeline will be very important because under Oklahoma law, certain categories and subsections of sexual assault are charged by how old the victim was at the time of the abuse.

Medical records and those vital records will help prosecutors establish the latest possible date for when the abuse started. And again, I just think the paper trial is what’s going to bring justice here, not her testimony. Then there is the forensic evidence. DNA and paternity tests have already proven Dustin is the biological father of the newborn baby.

And that’s important because it means the state does not need the 11-year-old to testify in court if this case goes to trial. And that matters because after everything she’s already been through, forcing her to get on the stand and relive this nightmare again would be really cruel. The science speaks for her.

And honestly, thank God for that. Now, charging Sherry is a bit different and more complicated. In order for prosecutors to convict her of enabling sexual abuse, they need to prove that she was actually enabling it and not simply a victim of domestic violence or abuse herself. Because the truth is, we don’t know what went on inside that house between Dustin and Sherry.

But under Oklahoma law, a parent or caretaker can be held equally responsible if they caused, procured, or permitted willful acts of sexual abuse against a child. And here’s the part that frustrates many people. It’s not enough under the law to say that she might have suspected something or that she maybe turned a blind eye to something suspicious.

Prosecutors need to prove that she knew or that she reasonably should have known that her daughter was at risk of being abused by Dustin. Personally, I think if she suspected something and did nothing, that alone should make her accountable. If she turned a blind eye, if she ignored the signs, if she chose to protect Dustin instead of her daughter, that is enabling.

But the legal standard is stricter. So, what do I know? That’s what makes her case a little more challenging. And honestly, that’s where I shake my head because the law feels more protective of adults than of kids in situations like this. The defense has already argued that the parents didn’t realize their 11-year-old daughter was pregnant because she was petite.

And honestly, [ __ ] I call hard [ __ ] on that. An 11-year-old’s body would change dramatically during pregnancy. Even without regular care, it’s something that becomes impossible to ignore. And experts point out that this argument could actually strengthen the neglect charges instead of weaken them because it highlights how isolated she was. She wasn’t in school.

She didn’t see the doctor. She had no outside supervision. That lack of monitoring over a full-term pregnancy is exactly what neglect looks like. And I cannot imagine standing in court and saying, “We didn’t know.” How do you even say that [ __ ] out loud? You’re just going to make yourself look like a fool. Like, you are so stupid.

What dumb asses? And then comes the question that many people are asking. What happens to the baby? Can an 11-year-old keep her child? Legally, the answer is no. she is still a child herself. In Oklahoma, when something like this happens, child protective services steps in and takes custody of both the young mother and the newborn.

Courts will often appoint a guardian adam, an attorney whose job is to represent the best interests of the child. Social workers and counselors get involved. The girl’s wishes may be considered, but ultimately the decision about the baby’s custody rests with the court and the state. There are a few possible outcomes, though.

The baby might be placed in foster care. The baby might be placed with a safe relative or in some cases the young mother and her baby are placed together with a trusted adult so they can stay in the same environment. But realistically, the state recognizes that an 11-year-old cannot raise a newborn alone. The priority is protecting both children.

And as awful as it is to say out loud, she should have never been put in this position where she even had to face this choice. So, where do things stand now? Dustin Walker remains in custody facing charges of sexual abuse and neglect. Sherry Walker is facing charges of neglect and enabling abuse. Michelle Justice, the grandmother, is facing six counts of neglect.

The neighbor who saw the girl almost every day, is also facing six counts of neglect. All six children, including the newborn, are in state custody. This case forces us to confront a very painful reality. Abuse doesn’t always come from strangers. Sometimes it happens within the walls of a home who the very people who should be providing safety.

And when children are cut off from school, from doctors, from any outside oversight, that abuse can stay hidden until it’s too late. And honestly, that’s the part that leaves me sick to my stomach. How much of this was preventable if just one adult, one of those adults had done the right thing. This little girl was felled by by her stepfather, by her mother, by her grandmother, and even by a neighbor who looked away.

But now, the truth is about to be in the open. The children are in protective custody, and the courts are preparing to hold those responsible accountable. No sentence will undo what’s already happened. Nothing can give this child back her stolen childhood. But accountability does matter. It is the first step in breaking the silence and making sure these children finally have a chance to heal.

Guys, I know this one was really heavy, but if you stayed all the way through, thank you so much for listening. These cases are tough, but they’re also very important to talk about because they shine a light on things that too often stay hidden. I’ll be following this case closely and as more comes out, whether it’s new charges, court hearings, or updates about the children, I’ll make sure to keep you updated here.

So, please make sure you’re subscribed because we’re going to keep covering this until we see where it all lands. And always, thank you for being here and thank you for caring. I’ll see you in the next one. [Music]