United States Attorney Thomas Scott Woodward announced that a federal grand jury indictment was returned yesterday charging an Osage County man with murdering an Indian man in Indian Country.

Steven Thompson Keeling, 48, a non-Indian from Hominy, Oklahoma, is charged with Murder in Indian Country. He allegedly shot and killed Edward Brown, a citizen of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, at Brown’s residence in Leonard, Oklahoma, on January 17, 2011. Brown’s residential property is located on a restricted Indian allotment, that is, in Indian Country. Keeling had previously been charged in Tulsa County with Shooting with Intent to Kill, Murder, and Possession of a Firearm after Former Conviction of a Felony. The charge of murder is in federal court based upon the deceased victim’s status as an Indian and the fact that the alleged crime occurred in Indian Country. If the defendant is found guilty of the charges, he faces a prison term of life imprisonment. Assistant United States Attorneys R. Trent Shores and Clinton J. Johnson are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States. The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in coordination with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Lighthorse Tribal Police and the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office. An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at later criminal proceedings.