OKMULGEE, Okla. — A jury found Kaytlin Fultz not guilty of child neglect after two days of trial.
The verdict comes eight months after a video was widely circulated of a foster child crying in her backyard on a freezing February afternoon. Fultz faced misdemeanor child neglect charges in the Muscogee Creek Nation District Court.
WATCH: Jury finds Haskell foster mother not guilty of child neglect
Emotion flooded the courtroom as the verdict was read. Fultz and her family declined to speak to 2 News on camera, but her mother said she was relieved.
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Jury finds Kaytlin Fultz not guilty in child neglect case
Fultz was the only witness called on by the defense and provided new details about the circumstances that led up to the incident captured on video.
During testimony, Fultz said the child had been placed in 12 different foster homes in the nine months before coming to live with her family. According to Fultz, the Department of Human Services information packet explained the constant moving around was due to behavior issues stemming from the child's trauma.
Prior to fostering in August of 2022, Fultz said she completed a trauma training course offered by the state to help prepare for any child of any background coming into her home.
Fultz said she and her husband enforced a three-strike method with all of the children who came into the home. The first strike was a verbal warning, the second was something they called 'take five.'
A 'take five' was essentially a five-minute reset to try to get the child to regulate their emotions. If that was unsuccessful, Fultz said strike three resulted in a loss of privileges.
WATCH: 2 News was the only news outlet at Fultz's trial
Fultz testified that when a child needed to "take five," they would sometimes take those five minutes outside. She said that's what is seen happening in that video.
While she said she was consistent in this teaching with all of the children that came into her home, the need to 'take five' was more frequent with this child. Fultz said it was about a three-times-a-week occurrence with this child.
In the lead up to the incident, Fultz said this child and another young foster child in her care were fighting over a toy. She testified she gave them both a verbal warning to share and to stop fighting.
When that didn't stop their argument, Fultz said she told them both to 'take five.' One of the girls did right away, the child involved in the incident threw a tantrum, said Fultz.
Fultz asked if the child wanted to scream and yell, which she explained was typical of this child, and the child said yes. Fultz told her she had to go outside to do so.
At this point, Fultz testified she tried to put the child's shoes and jacket on but the young girl threw them back at Fultz. They then went outside together.
This all happened on Feb. 18, 2025. Fultz said she had not been outside prior to this incident.
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Fultz maintains she was in the doorway with the child for the entire ordeal and that they were only outside for about two minutes.
When the nation asked why she didn't force the child to put shoes and a coat on, Fultz explained her belief is that it's not a good idea to force a foster child to do anything and could escalate the situation.
In hindsight, she told the prosecutor for the nation Matthew Hall she didn't realize it was as cold as it was that day.
Videos shown as evidence illustrated similar emotional incidents involving the child that Fultz said required the "take five" method to calm down.
In one video, the child is crying, saying she didn't want to leave their home and asking Fultz not to call the case worker.
Fultz is heard responding, saying, "We aren't giving up on you."
In closing arguments, the prosecution said those 17 seconds shown in the video were too long for the 12-degree day. The defense argued there was more to the story than what was seen on video, which she said was proven throughout the trial.
Before deliberation, the defense asked for witness Rhet Wike to be impeached, challenging his credibility and accuracy to the events of the day of the incident.
The jury ultimately agreed with the defense and decided Fultz was not guilty of child neglect.
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