Eleven Defendants Charged with Murder in Indian Country

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Oklahoma has returned separate indictments charging 11 defendants with murder and other various violent crimes arising out of Indian Country.

Over the course of a three-day grand jury session in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, trial attorneys with the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, working with and in support of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, obtained the indictments charging the 11 defendants. These indictments followed the reversal or dismissal of state cases as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McGirt v. Oklahoma.

In July 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court determined in McGirt v. Oklahoma that the historical boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation were never disestablished by Congress and therefore that the State of Oklahoma did not have jurisdiction to prosecute Jimcy McGirt for first degree rape and other state crimes. On March 11, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ruled that the Cherokee reservation and the Chickasaw reservation were likewise never disestablished. Similar rulings affecting the Seminole and Choctaw reservations were issued by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on April 1. As a result of these decisions, the United States has primary federal jurisdiction to prosecute major crimes committed by—or against—Native Americans occurring within the 26 counties of the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The following indictments were returned by the federal grand jury and filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma:

United States v. Gregory Gamblin – Murder in Indian Country.

United States v. Gunnar Mathew Hemingway – Murder in Indian Country; using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; causing the death of a person.

United States v. Cody Nash James –Murder in Indian Country; causing the death of a person.

United States v. Brian Mack – Murder in Indian Country.

United States v. Robert Mitchell – Murder in Indian Country.

United States v. Clifton Parish – Murder in Indian Country; kidnapping resulting in death in Indian Country.

United States v. Jeffrey Pierce – Murder in Indian Country.

United States v. Tyas Short – Second degree murder in Indian Country; using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; causing the death of a person.

United State v. Devin Sizemore – Murder in Indian Country; second degree murder in Indian Country; voluntary manslaughter in Indian Country; child abuse in Indian Country; assault resulting in serious bodily injury in Indian Country; and assault on a police officer in Indian Country

United States v. John Duncan Stubbs – Murder in Indian Country; using, carrying, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence; causing the death of a person.

United States v. Johnson Wisdom – Murder in Indian Country.     

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Wilson of the Eastern District of Oklahoma; and Special Agent in Charge Melissa R. Godbold of the FBI’s Oklahoma City Field Office made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the cases.

Trial Attorneys Gerald Collins, Rebecca Dunnan, Alex Gottfried, Lisa Man, Matthew Mattis, Christina Taylor, Christopher Taylor, and Kristen Taylor of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gangs Section are prosecuting the cases with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.