Johnston County Resident Sentenced For Murder

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announces that Cecil Browning Higginbotham, age 33, of Mannsville, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 240 months imprisonment for Murder in Indian Country - Second Degree.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Johnston County Sheriff's Office, the Dickson Police Department, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

On October 16, 2023, Higginbotham pleaded guilty to the murder charge. According to investigators, on August 9, 2022, Higginbotham pushed the victim to the ground, knocked the victim unconscious, and dragged the victim into his residence. Once inside, Higginbotham repeatedly assaulted the victim, causing severe blunt force trauma to the victim's head and neck. On August 11, 2022, the victim died of injuries sustained during the prolonged attack.

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

"The defendant's actions were reprehensible, violating everything we demand as members of a safe and peaceful society. The sentence handed down is most certainly deserved," said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the sentencing hearing. Higginbotham 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 U.S. Attorneys T. Cameron McEwen and Caila Cleary represented the United States.