On April 10, a man from Oklahoma was found guilty by a federal jury for causing the death of his daughter in Indian Country. As per the court documents and trial evidence, Devin Warren Sizemore, who was 28 years old and residing in McAlester, drowned his daughter who was only 21 months old.
Sizemore took the child for a visit while he was separated from the mother, and when he failed to return with the child, the authorities were informed. The officers discovered Sizemore behind a barn, standing at a pond, where they found the child face down in the water. Sizemore confessed to the officers that he had “baptized” the child and held her under water for around 30 seconds.
The defendant and victim in this case belong to a federally recognized Indian tribe, and the crimes occurred in Pittsburg County, within the Choctaw Nation Reservation, and the Eastern District of Oklahoma. Hence, the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case.
Sizemore was found guilty of child abuse resulting in death and voluntary manslaughter, and he will be sentenced later. The charges carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and 15 years in prison, respectively. An appointed federal district court judge will decide the sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
