Plea Made in Meskwaki Settlement Murder Case

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A man will plead guilty to second-degree murder in connection to a fatal stabbing on the Meskwaki Settlement in central Iowa.

21-year-old Jonathan Youngbear will enter his guilty plea Tuesday in federal court in Cedar Rapids to avoid trial and possible conviction for first-degree murder charges.

In the plea deal, Youngbear says he stabbed his 17-year-old cousin Severn Jefferson. Jefferson died Feb. 24 in Youngbear's home, which is within the boundaries of the Meskwaki Settlement in Tama County.

Second-degree murder is punishable by life in prison without parole and up to a $250,000 fine, but attorneys have proposed a prison sentence of 25 to 35 years.

The Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa own the Meskwaki Settlement land.