After 3-Year-Old's Decomposing Body Was Found, Grandma Said It Was an Accident. Then Police Found Blood Spatter

Mar. 15, 2025

Becky Vreeland and her granddaughter, Riley Lynn Nolan.Photo:Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office;Dignity Memorial

Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office;Dignity Memorial

An Oklahoma grandmother was sentenced to life in prison for killing her granddaughter and leaving her decomposing body in a trash can for several days so her son could enjoy Father’s Day, court records show.

Becky Vreeland, 63, was charged with murder in the first degree — child abuse in connection with the 2022 death of her 3-year-old granddaughter, Riley Lynn Nolan,The Oklahomanreports.

On Tuesday, Oct. 8, she took a nolo contendere – or no-contest - plea deal for the murder charge according toonline court records. Another count, desecration of a human corpse, was dismissed.

On Tuesday, Oct. 15, Cleveland County District Judge Lynne McGuire sentenced Vreeland to life in prison, which is 45 years in Oklahoma.

According to the Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office, she will be required to serve 85% of the sentence – or 38 years – before she is eligible for parole, local stationKOCOreports.

She will be 99 when she is eligible for parole.

The crime came to light on June 21, 2022, when the Oklahoma City Police Department was called to a home in the 600 block of SW 151 St. at 2:22 p.m. for a “trouble unknown" call,according to a releasefrom the department the next day.

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According to a probable cause affidavit, the man who called 911, Riley’s grandfather, told police he found what he believed to be his granddaughter inside a green trash can in the backyard,The Oklahomanreports.

The child had “obvious signs of trauma to her body,” according to the affidavit.

Vreeland said she found Riley in the trash can days earlier and didn’t want to say anything because the family was celebrating her son’s release from jail, according to the affidavit.

During a preliminary hearing in 2023, Vreeland’s ex-husband, Lyle Wayne Nolan, testified that on June 21, 2022, when the family was celebrating the jail release, Vreeland took him aside and told him about Riley,KFORreports.

Vreeland told him there had been an “accident” over the weekend and that Riley “fell into a big green dumpster” – three days earlier,KFORreports.

Vreeland believed Riley climbed into the trash can using a 6-foot pool ladder, the affidavit states.

According to the affidavit, “Vreeland advised she looked inside the trash can and saw Riley’s feet sticking out of the toys and Riley’s head was below the toys. Vreeland advised she felt Riley’s feet, she could tell Riley was not alive,”The Oklahomanreports.

“Vreeland advised she left Riley in the trash can because she was so upset and she did not want to tell her son about Riley’s death, until he had been released from jail, and had been able to have Father’s Day with the other kids,” the affidavit said.

One of the other children who was there during this time told police Riley was in her bed that Saturday morning, but wouldn’t wake up, according to the affidavit.

“Both siblings advised they observed Riley to have a purple eye (bruise) on her forehead,” the affidavit stated.

Vreeland, according to the affidavit, used a wooden bed leg she called a  “whooping stick” on her grandchildren,Fox23reports.

Detectives said they found blood spatters in Vreeland’s bedroom and a bathroom, the affidavit says, Fox23 reports.

Riley was found with three separate skull fractures, according to the medical examiner.

Vreeland’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

source: people.com