Prosecutors say a 20-year-old had been drinking and smoking meth for more than a day before fatally stabbing a 17-year-old on the Meskwaki Nation Settlement in Tama County, Iowa.
Someone called 911 to report a stabbing at the home of Jonathan Youngbear just before 5 p.m. Monday, February 24, 2014. Police said they arrived to find 17-year-old Severn Jefferson unresponsive and suffering from a stab wound.
Investigators said Youngbear, Jefferson and others had been drinking and smoking methamphetamine for about a day and a half before an argument at Youngbear’s home.
A witness told police Jefferson was sitting on a couch when Youngbear approached him from behind, motioned to the witness to be quiet and then stabbed Jefferson in the chest, according to KCRG.
Youngbear was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
At a hearing Tuesday, February 25, Youngbear was appointed a public defender. Youngbear told the judge he has not worked for more than a year, and that $400,000 – which he received from the tribe when he turned 18 – had already been spent.
Youngbear remained held in the Tama County Jail in lieu of $1-million bond.
