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Youngbear to plead guilty in fatal stabbing at Meskwaki settlement
Jan. 28, 2015 9:21 am, Updated: Jan. 28, 2015 11:38 am
CEDAR RAPIDS - The Meskwaki man accused of fatally stabbing his friend while high and drunk will plead guilty to a lesser charge.
According to federal court documents, 21-year-old Jonathan Youngbear will plead guilty today to second-degree murder. He had previously been charged at the federal level with first-degree murder. The maximum penalty for second-degree murder is life in prison without the possibility of parole; however, prosecutors have recommended a sentence of 25 to 35 years.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Youngbear will admit to fatally stabbing his friend, Severn Jefferson, in Youngbear's home on Feb. 24, 2014. Youngbear resided on the Meskwaki settlement in Tama at the time of the killing.
Police said Youngbear and Jefferson had been drinking and smoking meth all that day and the day before. At some point on Feb. 24, Youngbear and Jefferson got into an argument. Police said Youngbear stabbed Jefferson in the upper chest and neck area.
Youngbear was previously scheduled to go to trial Feb. 23.
Johnathan Curtis Youngbear makes his first appearance in district court at the Tama County Courthouse on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014, in Toledo, Iowa. Youngbear will plead guilty in federal court to a second-degree murder charge. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
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