Muskogee County Resident Sentenced For Death Of Toddler

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Ezzard Charles Onebear, age 29, of Muskogee, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 324 months in prison for causing the death of a person with a firearm.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and the Muskogee Police Department.

On July 28, 2022, Onebear pleaded guilty to one count of Causing the Death of Another Person with a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime of Violence.  On December 21, 2011, Onebear, who had accepted a contract to kill the target of a gang hit, approached the target’s residence, and in the ensuing struggle discharged a .380 caliber handgun into the home.  That bullet struck and killed a two-year-old child.  The crime occurred in Muskogee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

“This needless tragedy is a stark reminder of why combatting gun violence is a priority of law enforcement and the Department of Justice,” said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson.

The Honorable Bernard M. Jones, II, U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma, sitting by appointment, presided over the hearing in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  Onebear will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin D. Traster represented the United States at the sentencing hearing.