Fruitland man struck and killed
Navajo Times
Police Report, Feb. 16,2012
A 51-year-old Fruitland, N.M., man died after apparently being struck by a vehicle along Navajo Route 36 on Feb. 11.
The victim, identified as Stanley Begay, was discovered lying on the road by family members.
According to police, the first call they received was of a man running along the roadway. A little later, they received a call from family members saying they had found his body.
Family members told police that Begay had been drinking at a family gathering earlier that day and had left.
A family member later saw him walking along the shoulder of the road and offered his a ride but Begay refused and got into a confrontation, forcing the family member to leave.
When family members went back to see how he was doing, they found his body in the roadway. Police said he had been struck by a vehicle that left the scene.
Guns stolen
Navajo Nation Police are looking for several items, including two guns, that were stolen on Feb. 1 from a residence in Fort Defiance.
Steven Peshlakai, 21, told police that the items were stolen between 9:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. that day.
Among the items that were taken was a stage rifle which is similar to an AK-15 assault rifle valued at $1,200; a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol valued at $600; a PS 3 game console, valued at $700; a X-Box game console valued at $400, and a DVD player and An unspecified number of DVD movies.
A police investigation revealed that the suspects left the area on foot.
Gallup man dies from fall
Jameson Sloan, husband of former McKinley County Commissioner and Public Regulation Commission member Carold Sloan, died Saturday from injuries suffered in a fall in Gallup.
Jameson Sloan, 62, was found bleeding in an arroyo just off of U.S. Highway 491 about 5:18 p.m. At the time he was alive and speaking to emergency medical personnel who said that when they asked him how he was doing, he replied that he was okay.
He was taken to the Gallup Indian Medical Center where doctors there said he died about three hours later of injuries suffered in the fall. Among the injuries reported was massive head trauma and rib fractures.
His wife said she saw him earlier that day when he picked up beer and vodka at Safeway to go drinking with two friends. She said she saw him about three hours before he died with the two friends.
Police said there is no indication of foul play.
Carol Sloan is a well-known politician in McKinley County who was forced to resign her PRC post after she was convicted by a Gallup jury of assaulting a woman with a rock. The woman, Brenda Yazzie, told police that she attacked her because she thought her husband was having an affair with her.
In her trial, Sloan testified that she did not remember striking her on the head with a rock. She was sentenced to nine years in state prison but that was suspended and she was given five years probation.
Klagetoh woman killed in rollover
A one-vehicle rollover claimed the life of a Klagetoh, Ariz., woman on Feb. 3.
The victim was identified as Rosalina Ann Logg, 57.
She was ejected from the passenger seat when the vehicle she was in skidded sideways near mile marker 399 on U.S. 191 near Klagetoh.
The vehicle skidded into the soft dirt shoulder, rolling over multiple times.
Navajo, N.M., man found deceased
Kee beach, 77, of Navajo, N.M. died Feb. 11 in Gallup.
His body was found by Sammy Johnson, 52 and Margie Harley, 63, both of Yah-Ta-Hey, and Lee Brown, 69, of Smith Lake, at 7:30 a.m. that day on North Ninth Street in Gallup.
No immediate cause of death was listed but police said alcohol may have been a factor.
Teesto man dies
A Teesto, Ariz., man died Feb. 12 died in a shade house south of Birdsprings.
Police said they found the body of Earl Jackson, 44, in a shade house noth of the primary house in the morning.
A witness said he had come to the house the night before in an "impaired condition." His body was found frozen the next morning.
Sacaton man gets 3 years
PHOENIX - Eli Jackson, 44, of Sacaton, Ariz., was sentenced Feb. 13 to three years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Jackson pleaded guilty June 20 to assault resulting in serious bodily injury, having stabbed another person on Feb. 17, 2011.
Man sentenced in beating
PHOENIX - Spencer Ray Mix, 21, of Coolidge, Ariz., was sentenced Feb. 13 to four years in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Mix pleaded guilty Sept. 26 to assaulting a woman May 28, 2011, when he became angry and intentionally beat, kicked, and stomped on her repeatedly while she lay on the ground.
Accused child rapist arraigned
ALBUQUERQUE - Samuel Jackson, 55, of Shiprock, was arraigned Feb. 13 on an indictment charging him with aggravated sexual abuse of a minor under 16 years of age, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Jackson is charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Navajo girl in a residence in Shiprock on Aug. 5, 2011. At the time of the offense alleged in the indictment and until his arrest in January, Jackson was employed as a back-up bus driver at the Shiprock division of the Central Consolidated School District.
If convicted of this offense, Jackson faces a maximum penalty of not less than 30 years and up to life imprisonment.
Burnham man sentenced in killing
ALBUQUERQUE - Darnell Begay, 36, of Burnham, N.M., was sentenced Feb. 13 to 12 years in prison for his second-degree murder conviction, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Darnell Begay and his cousin, Tyrus Begaye, 35, also of Burnham, each pleaded guilty to killing Peyton Hogue.
According to court records, shortly after midnight on Feb. 6, 2010, Navajo Nation Police officers were notified that a dead man, later identified as Hogue, had been found near the residence of Darnell Begay. Hogue had sustained extensive trauma to his face and neck and had small puncture wounds in his abdomen.
On Feb. 8, 2010, at the urging of relatives and community leaders, Darnell Begay and Tyrus Begaye walked into the Shiprock Police District office and made voluntary independent statements, saying they had beat Hogue with their fists and kicked him in the head. Each also stated that Hogue was sitting up and coughing up blood when they left him. Hogue, however, died from the injuries he suffered during the attack.
On Oct. 13, 2011, Tyrus Begaye also was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Darnell Begay and Tyrus Begaye will both be on supervised release for three years after they complete their prison sentences.
Cooke charged in axe murder
ALBUQUERQUE - MacArthur Cooke, 36, was arrested Feb. 9 and charged with the Jan. 13 murder of Vivian Watson, 29, of Vanderwagen, N.M., according to the U.S. attorney's office.
According to the criminal complaint, Cooke allegedly killed Watson, his girlfriend of two years, with an axe in her Vanderwagen home. The New Mexico Office of Medical Examiner said the cause of Watson's death was multiple, heavy, sharp force/chop wounds to the head, and that her wounds were consistent with those made with an axe.
Cooke, of Pinedale, N.M., faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted.
DWI driver sentenced
ALBUQUERQUE - Katrina Martinez, 26, of Counselor, N.M., was sentenced Feb. 9 to two years in prison for causing a crash that severely injured her young son, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Martinez admitted she was driving while intoxicated on New Year's Day 2008 with her two children, aged 3 and 2, in the back seat. She admitted that she was speeding and lost control of her vehicle, causing it to flip over a number of times. Her 3-year-old son was thrown from the vehicle and sustained serious bodily injuries.
She was charged with endangering the life and welfare of her son as well as that of her younger child.
Martinez will serve three years of supervised release after her release from prison.
Life in prison for pedophile
PHOENIX - On Feb. 7, Samuel James Seymour, 51, of Whiteriver, Ariz., was sentenced to life in prison for two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a minor, one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse of a minor, one count of aggravated sexual abuse, one count of sexual abuse of a minor, and one count of abusive sexual contact with a minor, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Evidence presented at trial showed that, starting in approximately 2000, Seymour began sexually abusing a minor. The abuse lasted for several years, and involved both sexual and physical abuse. The evidence also showed that, in 2005, Seymour sexually abused another minor. In 2008, Seymour was observed sexually abusing a third minor.
The evidence brought to light a pattern of predatory behavior by Seymour involving a number of young children of both genders over an extended period of time.