A fight suspected to be gang-related has sent four Fort Defiance men to area hospitals for everything from stab wounds to head injuries.
The fight occurred on Oct. 17 in the parking lot of the Presbyterian Church. Navajo police were called to the scene about 5:19 p.m. by callers who said there was a fight in progress.
By the time police arrived, several of the people involved in the fight had fled the area but police did find several people who were in need of medical treatment.
These included: Hershel Ashley, 27, no address given; Levi Big Goose, 22, of Fort Defiance; Ervin Upshaw, 18, of Fort Defiance; and Eric Cornfield, 21; of Fort Defiance.
The police report didn't identify the victim with the injury but did say that one stabbing victim was transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, another was treated and released from the Fort Defiance Hospital, a victim with a leg injury was sent to Flagstaff and a person with a head injury was treated at the Tsehootsooi Medical Center.
A police investigation traced some of the participants who had fled to a residence at the Rio Puerco Estates in Fort Defiance and six persons, including at least two adults, were arrested.
The names of two of those who were arrested have been released: Derrick Cornfield, 19, and Quentin Arnold, 18, both of Fort Defiance.
Girl hit after getting off bus
A 6-year-old Lukachukai, Ariz., girl, whose name has not been released, received a leg fracture when she was hit by a drunken driver shortly after she got off a school bus to head for her home.
The police report said that the girl was crossing the street about 4:24 p.m. on Oct. 14 when she was hit by a car that then sped from the scene.
When police arrived at the scene, the girl was still laying on the ground with her leg bent forward at about a 100-degree angle. She was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital and treated.
While police were at the scene interviewing witnesses, a car matching the description of the one that hit the girl drove by and police pursued it for a short distance before it stopped.
It turned out, however, that while it was the right car, it was the wrong driver. The driver of the vehicle, identified as Emerson Dedman, 21, of Nazlini, Ariz., as well as a passenger in the vehicle, told police the name of the original driver - Aaron Shorty, 21, of Nazlini.
Police went to the residence of the female passenger and found Shorty and arrested him for a multitude of charges, including DWI, leaving the scene of an accident, reckless driving and failure to yield to a school bus.
Jury convicts man of murder
A Gallup jury took less than half an hour to find Merle Edaakie guilty of second degree murder and tampering with evidence in the death of Myron Yazzie, 23, in October 2009.
The prosecution argued that Edaakie spent the day with Yazzie, who he met for the first time that day, and Vanessa Reeves. He dropped them off later that afternoon and then drove a short distance away, walking back to the house and banging on the windows and doors for more than 10 minutes until Yazzie showed up at the door wearing only boxer shorts and socks.
A confrontation occurred and Yazzie was stabbed 16 times but managed to walk to a nearby apartment to get help. Reeves heard the commotion and found Yazzie laying on the ground, soaked in blood.
She told police that she asked who did it and he said, "Your homey," referring to Edaakie. Prosecutors said Edaakie's motive for the killing was jealousy since he viewed Reeves as his girlfriend.
The jury, however, was not allowed to hear that remark because Yazzie did not specify who he was referring to and all that they had was Reeve's opinion.
Edaakie admitted going back to the apartment and banging on the windows and doors but said he came back to get Reeves to help him get some of his stuff that he left at another house a couple of days before.
The case drew a lot of media attention because Edaakie, when confronted by police with statements that he had been seen by witnesses stabbing Yazzie, came up with the defense that it wasn't him but his Zuni witch who did it after taking over his image.
It turned out that police didn't have any witnesses to the stabbing. In fact, they had no evidence that linked Edaakie to the stabbing and the only evidence they presented was the three-hour video tape of the interview police detectives had with Edaakie four days after the stabbing in which he talked about his Zuni witch.
Man dies from injuries in car accident
Navajo police reported a delayed fatality in a one-vehicle accident that occurred on July 22 on Navajo Route 12 near Roanhorse Canyon, south of Navajo, N.M.
Injured in that accident was Jim Hosteen, 65, no address given, who was a passenger in a car driven by Jacob Hosteen, 23, no address given.
Police said they received a report on Sept. 22 that Jim Hosteen died as a result of the injuries he received in that accident.
Man dies in rollover
Police are reporting the death of a Crownpoint man in a one-vehicle rollover on State Road 371 on Oct. 18.
Police said Nelson Phillip Jr., no age given, was ejected from the vehicle at the time of the accident and died later at the Crownpoint Hospital.
Man sentenced for sledgehammer assault
SANTA FE - Tony Curtis Jr., 38, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was sentenced Oct. 25 to one year in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release for his federal assault conviction, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
The evidence presented at trial established that on the evening of July 30, 2010, Curtis bludgeoned a 22-year-old Navajo man in the head using a three-pound, hand-held sledgehammer.
The blow hit the victim on the left temple area causing a depressed skull fracture - an injury that required surgical repair.
The assault occurred in Ya-Tah-Hey, N.M., a small community located about 10 miles north of Gallup on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
Curtis is required to pay $15,000 in restitution to the Northern Navajo Medical Center to cover the costs of medical care provided to the victim of his assault.
Man pleads guilty to baseball bat assault
ALBUQUERQUE - Ervin Yazzie, 33, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty Oct. 20 to an assault resulting in serious bodily injury charge, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Yazzie pled guilty to assaulting an unarmed Navajo woman with a baseball bat on July 17, 2008, in a location near the Twin Lakes Chapter House, northwest of Tohlakai, N.M.
In his plea agreement, Yazzie said that he attacked the victim with a baseball bat as she was standing on a hill near the hogan where he was living.
Yazzie admitted repeatedly striking the victim in the face and head with the bat before fleeing from the area.
Due to life-threatening injuries, the victim was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she remained comatose for a period of time followed by a three-week stay in the intensive care unit.
Yazzie faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison to be followed by not more than three years of supervised release.
Man sentenced for hitting motorcyclist
ALBUQUERQUE - Diono H. Pete, 48, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Fruitland, N.M., was sentenced Oct. 20 to two years in prison for his assault resulting in serious bodily injury conviction, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
According to court records, Pete's vehicle struck a motorcyclist from behind on Oct. 10, 2010, causing the motorcyclist to be thrown into the window of Pete's vehicle and then rolling off the vehicle. The motorcyclist sustained multiple lacerations to the head and a spinal fracture.
Investigation by the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety revealed no skid marks or other evidence of braking by Pete's vehicle at the scene of the collision.
The investigation also revealed that there was beer in Pete's vehicle and that Pete had a blood alcohol content of .12 two hours after the collision.
Pete will be on supervised release for two years after he completes his prison sentence. The court will enter an order regarding restitution to the victim of his assault within 90 days.