Gambling Oklahoma grandma sentenced to 17 years in federal prison in 5-year-old’s hot car death

OKLAHOMA CITY – An Oklahoma woman whose 5-year-old grandson died inside her hot car while she gambled in a casino in the summer of 2018 has been sentenced to 210 months in federal prison for his murder.

Alanna Jean Orr, 50, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced Thursday for second-degree felony murder by child neglect. The case was handled by federal authorities because the death of her grandson, identified as Maddox Ryan Durbin, took place on tribal lands at the Kickapoo Casino in Harrah.

Orr is a Kickapoo tribal member, as was her grandson, authorities said.

According to an affidavit cited by the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, Orr went to the casino the afternoon of June 21, 2018, with her grandson in the backseat of her car. Surveillance footage from the casino’s grounds shows Orr arrived at 1:23 p.m. and left at 7:28 p.m.

Maddox was left alone in the car for six hours. The high temperature in Harrah that day was about 90 degrees, the U.S. attorney’s news release said.

Within an hour, the interior of a vehicle sitting in 90-degree weather can heat up to about 135 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. The Journal of Emergency Medical Services reports that even brief entrapment in a hot car can cause heatstroke in a child, whose body heats up three to five times faster than that of an adult.

“(Heatstroke) usually consists of a core body temperature greater than or equal to 104 degrees Fahrenheit and neurologic dysfunction, such as disorientation, delirium, seizures or coma,” the journal said.

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The heat speeds up the child’s heart and affects circulation, and as the duration of heat exposure grows, hyperthermia sets in. According to Safe Kids USA, a child’s organs begin to shut down when his body temperature reaches over 104 degrees. Death can occur at 107 degrees.

Orr appeared to try to cover up how her grandson died.

“Approximately 15 minutes after she left the casino, according to the affidavit, Orr called 911 and reported her grandson had choked and was not breathing,” the U.S. attorney’s news release said. “The affidavit states Harrah police officers met Orr at the Harrah Police Department and attempted to resuscitate the child but found that rigor mortis had already begun.”

The Oklahoman reported that Orr publicly mourned Maddox on social media after his death.

“So many happy memories of our day together, then I had to watch you leave me,” she wrote, according to the newspaper. “I’m still beside you. I’ll be broken forever.”

The sign for the Kickapoo Casino in Harrah, Okla., is seen in a 2016 Street View image. Maddox Ryan Durbin, 5, died July 21, 2018, after being left in a hot car by his grandmother, who was sentenced June 11, 2020, to serve 17 years in federal prison for his murder. (Google)

It was not until April 17, 2019, that a federal grand jury indicted Orr for murder. The conditions of her bond included staying away from casinos and online gambling.

Orr was also ordered to live with her sister pending trial and was banned from being the exclusive caretaker of any children, court records show.

She pleaded guilty to the murder charge in July.

“During the plea hearing before (U.S. District) Judge (Scott) Palk, she admitted she caused her grandson’s death by leaving him unattended on a hot summer afternoon in the back seat of her car with no air conditioning,” the U.S. attorney’s news release said.

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If released from prison at some point, Orr would be placed on supervised release for three years, according to the sentencing order. She was also ordered to pay $3,877.31 in restitution to the Oklahoma County Victims Compensation Fund for the cost of her grandson’s funeral.

Maddox, who had just graduated from pre-K when he died, loved superheroes, soccer, video games, books, drawing and playing outside, according to his obituary.

“He loved life and loved his family. He was the kid who ‘stopped to smell the roses,'” the obituary read. “Maddox touched every person he came in contact with.”

His family wrote that Maddox, who had been accepted into the gifted program at his school, Apollo Elementary, was excited for kindergarten.

“We will never know why this happened to our sweet baby, but he will live on in our hearts and souls,” the obituary read.