Ex-Wife of Man Accused of Drowning Toddler Speaks Out

By Jon Jordan, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- The man accused of drowning a 2-year-old at Lake Stanley Draper could be looking at the death penalty if found guilty, but his ex-wife is speaking out saying he's innocent.

Jessica Reeser, Donnie Reeser's ex-wife, said she actually has more to lose by speaking out, but she can't sit back and watch her ex-husband be accused of something she knows he didn't do.

"He is just an excellent father. He would do anything for his children," Jessica Reeser said.

Knowing that Donnie Reeser, her ex-husband and the father of her two children is in jail accused of killing his girlfriend's 2-year-old little girl Allie Croom, shocks Jessica to the core.

"There is no way we feel like he could have done this," Jessica said. "He's...there is just no way he could have done this."

Jessica feels that way mostly because she said the police department's only witness, who was interviewed in the middle of the night, is her and Donnie's 5-year-old son who was at the lake when the alleged drowning happened.

"You're basing what happened on what a 5-year-old said at midnight, one o'clock in the morning when something tragic has just happened to him. He was scared," Jessica said.

Irven Box, NEWS 9's legal analyst agrees with Jessica Reeser because he said children often times don't make great witnesses.

"Five-year-old is a thin line right at five. I think it would be difficult to qualify to be a witness in this case," Box said.

Even more so because Jessica said the way her son was interviewed by police has left her 5-year-old traumatized.

"Ask him once and he'll tell you what happened. When he's repeatedly asked over and over again and tells me ‘Momma it made my mind busy. I told him what he wanted to hear,'" Jessica said.

Police said they were able to determine this was an intentional drowning "based on witnesses at the scene, it was abundantly clear what happened."

Amber Croom, who was at the lake when the incident happened, told NEWS 9 before her daughter's drowning was an accident.

Box said in addition to the 5-year-old's testimony, the state would likely also need supporting evidence from the autopsy done on the toddler to have a credible case against Reeser.

More on News9.com:

- Man Arrested for Drowning Toddler at Lake Draper