Details released about slain Cartwright, Okla. girl

<p>BY JERRIE WHITELEY
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<p>HERALD DEMOCRAT
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<p>While authorities transferred Jason Lee Belew from the Grayson County Jail to the jail in Durant Wednesday, the medical examiner released details about the death of the little girl Belew stands accused of killing.
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<p>Belew appeared before a judge in Bryan County late Wednesday and was denied bond. 
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<p>Renee Steward with the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office said preliminary autopsy reports show that Dakota Hughes, 11, of Cartwright died from asphyxiation by strangulation. The medical examiner is ruling the manner of death a homicide.
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<p>The rest of the autopsy results, Steward said, should be available "any time now."
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<p>Belew is scheduled to appear in a preliminary hearing in Bryan County on Jan. 14, 2010.
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<p>Authorities contend that Belew killed Dakota Hughes in the early morning hours Sunday after a night of drinking with the child's aunt. 
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<p>An affidavit of probable cause filed in the case said the aunt and the child had picked Belew up in Sherman and that he was in the house when the aunt went to sleep. 
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<p>"The aunt found Dakota nude and dead on a bedroom floor. There were injuries to Dakota's face, head, neck and genitalia," said Emily Redman, district attorney for the 19th District in Oklahoma.
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<p>Grayson County court records show that Belew pleaded guilty in March 2003 to a charge of assault causing bodily injury and received one year probation, and deferred adjudication. The same records show Belew paid all his mandated court costs and fines in relation to that conviction.
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<p>The Hughes family is planning Dakota Hughes' funeral Saturday. The family requests donations for funeral expenses be sent to Cunningham Funeral Home, P.O. Box 387, Colbert OK 74733.</p>