A member of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians pleaded guilty Friday to the 2017 murder of a female tribal member on the Choctaw Indian Reservation.

Stuart Brian Nickey, 37, of the Bogue Homa Community of the Choctaw Indian Reservation to federal grand jury 2017 indictment on the charge of murder in the second degree.

The guilty plea was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca of the Southern District of Mississippi and Michelle Sutphin, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi.

According to court documents, on July 1, 2017, Stuart Brian Nickey, 37, of the Bogue Homa Community of the Choctaw Indian Reservation, beat his tribal member girlfriend in the face with his fists which resulted in her death.

Nickey is scheduled to be sentenced on September 29, 2021 at 9:30 a.m. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney LaMarca commended the work of the Choctaw Police Department of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation who investigated the case.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kevin J. Payne and Lynn Murray.