A federal judge recently said a prison sentence given in a plea agreement between prosecutors and a woman indicted for stabbing a man to death in 2020 “was not appropriate.”
Crystal Marie Haworth, 33, pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder in Indian Country as part of a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Haworth was originally indicted in the Eastern District of Oklahoma with murder in Indian Country for the July 2020 death of 57-year-old Leonard Brokeshoulder.
The woman was charged in federal court due to Brokeshoulder’s status as a Native American and the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in McGirt v. Oklahoma and subsequent rulings made by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals applying the ruling to the Choctaw Nation.
According to the plea deal, prosecutors and the defense agreed “that a term of imprisonment at the low end of the sentencing guidelines is the appropriate disposition of this case.”
The maximum possible penalty for second degree murder is imprisonment “of any term of years up to life” and/or a fine up to $250,000.
The sentence recommended in the plea deal was 17 and a half years, but a court document filed by the defense states a federal judge told attorneys the court “was not inclined to accept the agreement” and expressed the view that a sentence less than 20 years “was not appropriate.”
According to the document, the judge said that although mental illness “may have been a factor,” Haworth’s substance abuse “may have also contributed to the criminal conduct.”
The defense argued in a supplemental sentencing memorandum the sentence is consistent and higher “than sentences imposed in other homicide cases.”
Attorneys for Haworth also wrote studies show people with a mental health disorder have a high rate of comorbidity with substance disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Very often it is difficult to know whether a person’s psychosis predated the drug use,” the document states. “Through investigation of Ms. Haworth’s background suggests that the symptoms of her psychosis did predate her substance abuse.”
Haworth’s attorneys also said although her psychiatric stability had improved since being in custody and she has been abstinent for more than a year “the defects seen on testing are persistent deficits related to her psychiatric disorder.”
Brokeshoulder was found dead at a McAlester home in July 2020 after Haworth appeared at the Pittsburg County Sheriff’s Office covered in blood and told jail staff that there was an injured man at a residence on the 600 block of West Polk Avenue.
An affidavit filed in the case states Brokeshoulder suffered numerous stab wounds to the torso and face along with a cut to his neck which nearly decapitated him along with numerous stab wounds to the upper part of his body.
The affidavit states during an interview with investigators, Haworth admitted to killing Brokeshoulder and stated “numerous times” she tried to cut off the man’s head.
The woman said she was living with Brokeshoulder “for the past few months” and was engaged to him, with her plan to marry him and “kill him and take all of his property,” claiming the man “was so abusive and stuff,” the affidavit states.
Attorneys for Haworth previously filed a notice of insanity defense in the case with Haworth ordered to undergo a mental health examination.
Records show the exam was completed in September 2022 with the findings sealed by a federal judge.
A deadline for a new plea deal is currently scheduled for Aug. 21 with trial scheduled to begin Sept. 18.