BAY CITY -- Anthony Michael Bennett was indicted on Wednesady by a federal grand jury in Bay City for the first degree murder of a child on the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Reservation according to a press release by U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade.
McQuade was joined in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Robert Foley of the FBI.
The seven-count indictment charges, among other things, stated that on June 21, 2012, Bennett, a member of the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, committed the premeditated murder of a child identified as Carnel Chamberlain.
According to the indictment, Bennett also committed additional assaults against Bennett, assaulted another individual with a baseball bat, recklessly caused the death or disfigurement of an animal and attempted to prevent others from communicating information related to the commission of a federal offense to law enforcement.
"We are committed to prosecuting violent crimes against vulnerable victims wherever they occur, including in tribal communities," McQuade said. "This indictment is the result of extraordinary cooperation and diligence by federal, state and tribal law enforcement agencies."
The Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe also released a statement on the indictment:
"The Tribal Community has waited for quite some time for this to occur and now we can begin our journey toward justice," stated Tribal Council member Louanna Bruner. "There is no place nor shold there be in any community for tolerance toward abuse, and or murder of anyone whether a child, defenseless and vulnerable persons."
