Inset: Cherie D. Walker (Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The home where Walker’s 11-year-old daughter gave birth in 2025 (KJRH).
A 34-year-old Oklahoma mother may spend the rest of her life behind bars for allowing her husband to impregnate her 11-year-old daughter, whom they forced to give birth at home without medical care.
A Muskogee County jury last week found Cherie Dawn Walker guilty of one count of enabling child sexual abuse and six counts of child neglect, according to court records. Jurors recommended that Walker receive a life sentence on each of the seven convictions. The trial judge will make the final sentencing decision at a later hearing.
The verdict marks the latest development in a case that has already resulted in a life sentence for Walker’s husband, Dustin Joel Walker.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Dustin Walker pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of sexual abuse of a child under 12 and six counts of child neglect. In June, Muskogee County District Judge Timothy King sentenced him to life in prison plus 42 years, ordering him to serve the 42-year sentence before beginning the life term. He also must register as a sex offender, will be subject to supervision if ever released, and may not have contact with his victims.
The investigation began in 2025 after authorities learned the couple’s then-11-year-old daughter had given birth to a full-term infant inside the family’s Muskogee County home without receiving prenatal or medical care.
Assistant District Attorney Janet Hutson previously said DNA testing established a “99% certainty” that Dustin Walker fathered the infant. Hutson also rejected claims from family members that the adults in the home were unaware of the child’s condition, noting that although the victim was “rather petite,” she delivered a normal-sized baby.
“This child is traumatized. She’s been through a horrific ordeal,” Hutson previously said in an interview with Tulsa CBS affiliate KOTV. “Not only has somebody gotten her pregnant, but she gave birth at home without medical assistance, and this will be her life for the rest of her life.”
Hutson also indicated the victim had been pulled out of school, which limited opportunities for teachers or medical professionals to spot the abuse and intervene.
“The child had been out of school for a period of time, and it is my understanding that children may have been homeschooled,” the prosecutor said.
Following the defendants’ arrests in 2025, members of the family publicly denied knowing the child was pregnant. The victim’s maternal grandmother, Michelle Justus, previously told Tulsa NBC affiliate KJRH, “I just want people to know, we did not know this was happening. None of us.”
Prosecutors, however, have maintained that the evidence showed the child had been neglected for an extended period and that the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy and birth supported the criminal charges.
Justus is facing one count of child neglect and is scheduled to go to trial on July 23, records show.
The guilty verdicts against Cherie Walker leave sentencing in the hands of King. If he adopts the jury’s recommendations, Walker will receive life sentences on each of her seven felony convictions.
