Inset: Cherie D. Walker (Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Muskogee County home where Walker’s 11-year-old daughter gave birth in 2025 (KJRH).
A 34-year-old Oklahoma woman has been sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison after authorities said she allowed her husband to impregnate her 11-year-old daughter and then forced the child to deliver the baby at home without medical assistance.
Muskogee County District Judge Timothy King sentenced Cherie Dawn Walker on Friday to seven consecutive life terms for her role in the abuse and neglect.
The punishment matched the recommendation from jurors, who found Walker guilty in July of enabling child sexual abuse and six counts of child neglect, court records show.
Her husband, Dustin Joel Walker, was previously sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to sexually abusing a child younger than 12 and six counts of child neglect.
Judge King ordered Dustin Walker to serve 42 years before beginning his life sentence. He must also register as a sex offender, remain under supervision if he is ever released, and have no contact with his victims.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the case began in 2025 when authorities discovered that the couple’s 11-year-old daughter had delivered a full-term baby inside the family’s Muskogee County home. The child had received no prenatal care or medical treatment during the pregnancy.
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Assistant District Attorney Janet Hutson previously said DNA testing showed there was a “99% certainty” that Dustin Walker was the infant’s father. Hutson also disputed claims from relatives that the adults living in the home did not know the girl was pregnant, pointing out that while the child was “rather petite,” she gave birth to a normally 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 said the girl had been removed from school, reducing the chances that teachers, doctors, or other professionals would recognize signs of abuse and step in.
“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.
After the couple’s arrests in 2025, relatives publicly insisted they had not known the girl was pregnant. Her 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 have maintained that the evidence demonstrated the child had been neglected over an extended period, with the pregnancy and unassisted birth forming part of the case against the adults.
Justus also faces a child neglect charge. Her trial had been scheduled for July, but court records now show that proceedings are set to begin Jan. 12, 2027, records show.
