CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) - A man has been charged in federal court with murder in connection to a fatal stabbing on the Meskwaki Settlement in central Iowa.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for northern Iowa says 20-year-old Jonathan Youngbear made an appearance Wednesday in federal court in Cedar Rapids. He was held without bond.
Youngbear was arrested in February after officers found 17-year-old Severn Jefferson unresponsive in a home on the settlement near Tama. He had been stabbed in the chest.
Youngbear’s next court appearance for preliminary and detention hearings is scheduled Monday. Court records do not list an attorney.
It’s unclear what degree federal officials are seeking. If convicted, Youngbear faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
The Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa own the Meskwaki Settlement land.
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