PENDLETON — A woman facing charges of first-degree murder in a September stabbing on the Umatilla Indian Reservation has pleaded not guilty.

A federal grand jury indicted Skylar Crowe, 22, in the killing of Richard Higheagle, 38, according to court documents. She entered a not guilty plea in her arraignment on Oct. 29.

The United States District Court in Portland scheduled a five-day jury trial for the case to begin Dec. 28. Judge Michael H. Simon is presiding.

According to court documents, Crowe turned herself into the Umatilla Tribal Police Department on the night of the stabbing.

She told FBI Special Agent Rex Shark she stabbed Higheagle with a kitchen knife, according to an affidavit Shark filed Sept. 30 in federal court for an arrest warrant.

Crowe claimed Higheagle sexually abused her and her sister throughout childhood, according to court documents. At the time of the abuse, he was married to her mother and they were living under his roof.

A second source, who is unnamed in court documents but is described as Crowe’s intimate partner, told officials he saw Crowe stab Higheagle. He told officials that during the first month of their relationship, Crowe told him she “had been raped repeatedly by Higheagle during her childhood” and also “told him repeatedly during their four years together that she wanted to kill Higheagle.”