Man Guilty of Shooting in Indian Country

Acting U.S. Attorney Thomas Scott Woodward announced that a 19 year-old man pled guilty in federal court today to shooting an Indian female acquaintance in the neck.

Brandon Charles Tyler Hendricks, an Indian male from Locust Grove, admitted that he shot the female victim at a video game party at a mobile home near Locust Grove on May 30, 2009.  He was charged in a July 2009, Grand Jury Indictment with Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to Cause Bodily Harm.  Hendricks admitted that after he was thrown out of the party because he was intoxicated and disruptive, he returned with a loaded firearm.  When the female homeowner came out onto the porch to confront him for a third time, Hendricks shot her with the .22 caliber rifle.  The bullet passed through the woman's neck and into the chest of a second victim.

The sentencing for Hendricks has been set for December 8, 2009.  He faces up to 10 years imprisonment in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and a $250,000 fine.

The crime was investigated by the Cherokee Nation Marshal’s Service and the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Trent Shores represented the government in this case.  The prosecution proceeded in federal court because the crime occurred in Indian Country, where major criminal offenses fall under the jurisdiction of the United States Courts.