N avajo Nation Police are investigating an aggravated battery that turned into a homicide Nov. 11 in the Tuba City area.
Roberta Fragua, no age given, of Tuba City, reported to police about 5 p.m. that a stabbing had occurred at 1120 Eagle Post Lane. She also reported that the suspect, Leonard Thompson, 41, of Tuba City, had fled the scene.
When police arrived, they found the victim, Anthony Honahni, 32, of Tuba City, laying on the dining room floor, surrounded by a large pool of blood.
Honahni had been stabbed several times in the back and right forearm with a large kitchen knife, according to police.
When police arrived, he was described as alert but said he had trouble breathing. Shortly thereafter, he lost consciousness and by the time he arrived at the local emergency room, he was not breathing.
Emergency medical personnel attempted to revive Honahni by doing CPR but he was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m.
Family members told police that the suspect and the victim had been arguing a few minutes prior to the stabbing and that Honahni was telling Thompson that he had to leave the house because he was intoxicated and was yelling at family members.
Suspects sought in Fort D stabbing
An aggravated battery (stabbing) occurred Nov. 4 in the Fort Defiance area.
Police were called by residents near the mouth of the Blue Canyon Road to break up a fight going on in the middle of the road with several people fighting each other.
One witness said he saw a person being beaten up by two other people. It's not certain whether the victim or suspects were teenagers or not so no names have been released.
The victim sustained a cut to the right side and numerous stab wounds to the buttocks. By the time police arrived on the scene, the suspects had fled and police said one of the suspects was identified to them as "Shorty."
The victim was transported to Tsehootsooi Medical Center for treatment.
DWI crash injures five
A two-car crash just east of Shiprock area resulted in five members of a Chinle family being transported to area hospitals for treatment.
The crash occurred Nov. 6 near milepost 26 on U.S. 64.
The crash occurred when a sedan rear-ended a SUV. Police said the driver and passenger in the sedan - identified as Christian Begay, 23, of Farmington, and Yolanda Benally, 24, also of Farmington, were intoxicated.
Injured in the accident were Delroy Gorman, Ballerina Gorman, Yvonne Gorman, and two children, 10 and 11 years of age. The 10-year-old was trapped in the vehicle and had to be extracted then airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital for treatment.
Radioactive canister reported
Navajo Nation Police were informed of the discovery of a canister with radioactive markings found Nov. 3 in Beclabito, Ariz.
It turned out the canister was in a five-gallon bucket upon which a rock had been placed.
The canister was traced to a man, whose name was not released, who lives in the area and who makes a living transporting abandoned vehicles to a recycling plant in Phoenix.
He had taken the canister on his last trip expecting that it would be accepted by the recycler but officials there did a reading and found it to be positive for radiation so they wouldn't accept it.
The man then returned to the reservation and contacted the Office of Environmental Health in Teec Nos Pos, Ariz. They referred him to the Navajo Environmental protection Agency, which took a reading and also radioactivity.
The Navajo EPA was in the process of having it picked up and transported to a site that accepts radioactive waste, the police report said.
Pot hauler busted
Navajo Nation Police arrested a Las Vegas, Nev., man, no name given, Nov. 2 for transporting marijuana.
The police report said the vehicle was stopped for several traffic violations. When the officer arrived at the front of the vehicle, he was overwhelmed by an odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.
When the car was searched, police found 44.4 pounds of high-grade marijuana in the trick. The marijuana had a street value of $150,000.
Laptops stolen in Ganado
Police and officials of Ganado Middle School are investigating the theft of several laptop computers.
School officials said they aren't sure exactly when the thefts started. One teacher reported her laptop stolen on Oct.2 and on Oct. 22, officials found one that a locked school door had been unlocked.
Later, a school investigation revealed that one of the school's master keys that unlocks all school doors was missing.
Elder dies of exposure
Another exposure death was reported last week by tribal police.
The victim in this case - Mark Castillo, 84, of Tinian, N.M. - was found lying on the ground by a motorist on Nov. 6 about five miles southeast of the Ojo Encino Chapter House.
He was found lying on the ground with his case close to his head. Police also said that one of his white tennis shoes was lying next to his left foot, indicating that he may have been crawling before his death.
Woman sentenced to probation
GALLUP - District Court Judge Grant Foust on Monday sentenced Larita Smith, 21, to one year of probation after she was convicted by a Gallup jury of two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
She had originally been charged with second-degree murder in the Dec.23, 2010 death of 17-year-old Colleen Lincoln.
The prosecution argued that Smith, along with two others, had killed Lincoln by beating her up and then burning her body.
But while Smith admitted hitting her once because she got angry when Lincoln tripped her one-year-old child, she said when she went back to her apartment Lincoln was still alive.
Sheriff's office conducts drug sweeps at schools
Navajo Nation Police, with the assistance of a K-9 team from the McKinley County Sheriffs office, have been conducting drug sweeps at county high schools during the past month.
Drug sweeps were conducted at Tohatchi High on Oct.19 and at Pueblo Pintado High and Crownpoint High on Nov. 1.
Each sweep was requested by school officials and during each sweep, police found marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
There were no arrests made but police said they will do more drug sweeps in the future at the schools.
Counselor, N.M. woman pleads guilty to felony child abuse
ALBUQUERQUE - Katrina Martinez, 26, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Counselor, N.M., pleaded guilty Nov. 14 to one count of felony child abuse under a plea agreement, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
According to the indictment, Martinez assaulted a child and caused him serious injury on Jan. 1, 2008, on the Navajo Reservation. The indictment charged Martinez with endangering the life and welfare of the child she assaulted as well as a second child on that same date.
In her plea agreement, Martinez admitted that she was driving while intoxicated. The passengers in her vehicle included her common-law husband, who was in the front passenger seat, and her two children, a three-year-old and a two-year-old, who were in the backseat.
Martinez admitted that, after a brief stop, she drove off at a high rate of speed and lost control of her vehicle, causing it to flip over a number of times. Her three-year-old son was thrown from the vehicle and sustained serious injuries.