MUSKOGEE – A federal jury has convicted Henryetta resident Diamond Levi Britt, 26, of first degree murder in the brutal slaying of his father, Gary Britt.
MUSKOGEE – A federal jury has convicted Henryetta resident Diamond Levi Britt, 26, of first degree murder in the brutal slaying of his father, Gary Britt.
Punishment for first degree murder in Indian Country is imprisonment for life.
Britt was found guilty on July 15 of killing his father with a sword.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma said that on Sept. 16, 2019, Gary Britt was found with significant injuries, including a partially severed arm, multiple head wounds and a severe cut along the tendon attached to his thigh muscles.
The victim died nine days after the attack due to complications from his injuries.
Evidence presented at the trial demonstrated that on at least two occasions prior to the attack the defendant informed family members he intended to kill his father.
After the vicious attack, the defendant left the crime scene and was observed by Henryetta police officers walking along a roadway carrying a sword. The defendant was taken into custody, where he made additional statements indicating he knowingly and deliberately killed his father, with premeditation.
The defendant said he wanted to kill his father on the night of the attack and that he regularly thought about stabbing his father.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that Britt was prosecuted in federal court because the defendant is a member of a federally-recognized Indian tribe and the crime occurred in Okmulgee County, within the boundaries of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, and within the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The guilty verdict was the result of an investigation by the Okmulgee County Sheriff ’s Office, the Henryetta Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Honorable John F. Heil, III, U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in Muskogee, presided over the trial and ordered the completion of a pre-sentence report.
Sentencing will be scheduled following completion of the report. Britt was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal pending the imposition of sentencing.
Special Assistant United States Attorneys Kyle J. Essley and Robert Reeves represented the United States.
