Defense continues to request time served for Sizemore
Jan. 24—The defense for a Krebs man found guilty on charges of manslaughter and child abuse in the 2016 death of his daughter says prosecutors offered "no good reason" to ask for decades of prison for their client.
Federal prosecutors asked a federal judge to sentence Devin Sizemore to "decades of prison" after a federal jury found Sizemore guilty in April 2023 of voluntary manslaughter in Indian Country and child abuse in Indian Country.
Sizemore, 29, was accused of drowning his 21-month-old daughter, Emily, in a pond near Krebs on July 15, 2016, and assaulting then-Krebs Police Officer Jack Suter during his arrest.
The jury acquitted Sizemore of counts of first- and second-degree murder in Indian Country and a count of assault and battery on an officer in Indian Country.
Prosecutors asked a federal judge to "hold Sizemore accountable for this conduct and sentence him to a significant sentence consisting of decades of incarceration in the Bureau of Prison."
"Sizemore does not suffer from some sort of diminished capacity. Rather, based on the defendant's criminal history, he has a background of intentional behavior, escalating offenses, non-compliance while under supervision, and domestic violence that should be of concern to the court," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in the case this month.
Sizemore's defense attorney, Lisa Peebles, responded to the government's request and said, "the government incorrectly claims that Devin's diminished mental capacity has been 'roundly rejected."'
Peebles wrote the government relies on the opinion of an expert who did not speak to "collateral sources" and points out previous statements about his mental health and diagnosis.
The attorney also states Sizemore's criminal history occured when he was between 19 and 21 years of age "when he was an emerging adult with immature impulse and risk-taking control" and related to drug use.
"He has already begun to manage and will continue to do so upon release. As Devin's relatively clean disciplinary history and eagerness for programming while detained since 2016 demonstrate," Peebles wrote. "Devin is not the same young man. He has committed to rehabilitation and intends to make the most of his future opportunities."
Peebles states there is "no good reason" for prosecutors to use Oklahoma's child abuse statute that carries up to life imprisonment when asking for "decades of prison" for Sizemore.
"This Court should impose a sentence of time served to be followed by a term of supervised release of no more than five years," Peebles wrote.
Sizemore is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday at 1 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Muskogee.
