Oklahoma man convicted in drowning of 21-month-old daughter he said he was trying to baptize

An Oklahoma man was convicted by a federal jury earlier this month in the drowning death of his daughter in Indian Country, the Department of Justice said in a news release.

Devin Warren Sizemore, 28, of McAlester, was convicted of child abuse resulting in death and voluntary manslaughter in connection with the July 15, 2016 drowning death of Emily Sizemore, which he said occurred when he tried to baptize the girl.

He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the child abuse resulting in death charge and 15 years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter charge.

Sizemore had previously been convicted in 2018 by a Pittsburg County jury, The Associated Press reports.

IN OTHER NEWS: 'That's totally fallacious, ma'am': Witness shreds Marjorie Taylor Greene for misinformation

A federal district court judge will weigh sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors in determining Sizemore’s sentence. His sentencing date has not yet been announced.

Sizemore was estranged from the child’s mother when took the child for a visit. When he did not return the child and did not return to his residence, law enforcement was notified and officers located Sizemore at a barn near a pond, where they found the child face down floating in the water.

Sizemore admitted he “baptized” the victim and held her under water for approximately 30 seconds.

A Pittsburg County jury found Sizemore guilty of first-degree murder and felony assault and battery on a police officer in 2018, McAlester News-Capital reports.

He had been charged with assaulting two officers who found the body and attempting to drown one of them by holding him under water while choking him, The Oklahoman reported in 2017.

The Oklahoman’s Randy Ellis reports that: “Sizemore purportedly made statements about evil and religion and claimed the world was ending the day before his daughter's body was discovered, according to earlier news stories based on court documents.”

The DOJ prosecuted the case because the defendant and victim are members of a federally recognized Indian tribe and the crimes occurred in Pittsburg County, within the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation Reservation and within the Eastern District of Oklahoma.