10/30/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/30/2024 17:06
MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Kaira Leigh Wilson, age 35, of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for one count of Child Abuse in Indian Country.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Idabel Police Department.
On January 11, 2024, Wilson, was found guilty by a federal jury at trial of the charge. According to investigators, on March 12, 2020, law enforcement responding to a 911 call at an Idabel residence discovered an unresponsive 6-month-old infant. EMS responders began life-saving measures and rushed the infant to the hospital for acute respiratory failure. Medical professionals successfully resuscitated and stabilized the infant. Medical scans revealed fresh injuries consistent with non-accidental trauma, including a subdural hematoma and extensive retinal hemorrhages. The infant also sustained vision loss in one eye. A subsequent investigation revealed that prior to the 911 call, a witness in the residence observed Wilson throw the infant against a wall.
The crime occurred in McCurtain County, within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation Reservation of Oklahoma, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
"I commend the work of the first responders and medical staff in diagnosing and treating the defenseless victim and want to thank the investigators for tirelessly working to determine how the injuries were inflicted," said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson. "I also applaud the Assistant United States Attorneys who effectively presented the case at trial and compassionately advocated for the victim and the victim's family at the sentencing hearing. We recognize the discretion of the Court in sentencing and respect the decision."
The Honorable John C. Coughenour, Senior U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, sitting by assignment, presided over the hearing in Muskogee. Wilson 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 Morgan Muzljakovich and Sarah McAmis represented the United States.