Broken Bow Resident Pleads Guilty To Murder

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Devon Leroy Battiest, age 43, of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, entered a guilty plea to an Information charging him with Murder in Indian County—Second Degree.

The Information alleged that Battiest unlawfully killed the victim with malice aforethought. According to investigators, on May 6, 2023, Battiest entered a Broken Bow residence armed with a firearm.  Battiest confronted the victim, who was a guest at the house, and shot the victim multiple times.

The crime occurred in McCurtain County, within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Broken Bow Police Department, and the Choctaw Nation Lighthorse Tribal Police.

The Honorable Gerald Jackson, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.  The Battiest was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal Service pending sentencing.

Assistant United States Attorney Richard J. Lorenz represented the United States.