Man pleads guilty in 2022 murder case

A man pleaded guilty to killing a Park Hill woman who was reportedly related to him.

On April 30, 2022, deputies with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to reports of a homicide in the area of Horseshoe Bend. Sheriff Jason Chennault said Xavier Sean Wilson, 22, and the victim were related.

Deputies and investigators with Cherokee and Adair counties began searching for Wilson and the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service used their drone to assist. Wilson was located in the area around 10 a.m. the next morning.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was contacted since Wilson is Native American. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation assisted with the crime scene for the FBI as well as the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Grand River Dam Authority.

According to court documents, Wilson stabbed the woman in the neck, wrapped her head and neck with a towel and tape ligature, and placed a plastic bag in her mouth.

Wilson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in federal court earlier this month for the killing and he'll be sentenced at a later date.