Court Cases: Chinle man sentenced for murder of girlfriend

LOS ANGELES

A Chinle man was sentenced last week to 18 and a half years in federal prison for the October 2019 murder of his on-again, off-again girlfriend.

Roderrell Boyd Charley, 33, was given the sentence for the beating death of his girlfriend, identified as A.B. in court records. Charley would later admit the killing, saying it occurred because of jealousy. She was 46 at the time of her death.

Her body was found by police on Oct. 8, 2019, about a third of a mile from Charley’s home near the Whitehouse Overlook after being called by family members three times because Charley was causing a disturbance.

During the previous evening, several of Charley’s family members had reported seeing Charley walking with A.B. near the Overlook. Later that evening, reported hearing the two fighting.

Early the next morning, Charley’s sister reported hearing someone trying to enter her house followed by Charley yelling to help him. He yelled that A.B. was not breathing and she might be gone.

When one of his relatives followed him as he went away from the house, he reportedly told her she “was laying on the road.”

He then started running and a couple of minutes later, she heard him say “Angie, get up. Babe, get up.”

She went back to her house to report what she had heard. Some members of the family went to tell A.B.’s children that something had happened to their mother while others went looking unsuccessfully for Charley and A.B.

Navajo Police had been called earlier that evening because of Charley’s behavior but police were not able to find him. They were called again after family members returned home and this time police found A.B.’s body on the road covered with bruises and injuries. She was not breathing.

Charley reportedly had gone to the home of another family member and asked to be allowed in “because they’re looking for me.” He was refused entry and went away.

Police continued looking throughout the night and into the next day. Je was finally found walking near the administrative building for the local school system.

The next day Charley waved his rights and agreed to be interviewed. He told FBI agents that he and A.B. had been drinking that night several pints of vodka. He said the two got into an argument over another girl he had been dating and she would not stop, causing him to become very angry.

As for the details of what happened next, he said he had no memory of hitting her. The next thing he remembered, he said, was seeing her lying on the ground. He said he remembered shoving her earlier in the evening and hitting her once on the cheek.

When he was asked again if he had hit her later in the evening, he said he must have since they were alone.

“Because of alcohol, I did that to her,” he said.

When asked what he would say to her children, he said he would say, “I am sorry I did this to your mom. I’m truly with my whole heart I am sorry.”

Once he is released, he is scheduled to be under supervised probation for five years.

Mexican Springs man arrested, charged with murder

More details were released Thursday in the killing of a Mexican Springs man and the arrest of Quentin Smith, 45, on murder charges.

The victim, identified as A.S. in court records, was found in his house with four stab wounds to his back. He was found in the evening of Sept. 24 covered in a blue blanket and lying on the floor.

Witnesses who discovered the body told Navajo Police that Smith and a woman, only identified as M.S., may have been involved in the death of A.S.

After leaving the house, one witness said, he was approached by Smith because he said he was on the run and needed money. The witness described Smith as “being rowdy and capable of killing someone.”

The witness gave police a description of the vehicle Smith was in and later that night, a tribal police officer pulled the vehicle over near Twin Lakes and Smith and M.S. were arrested on charges not related to the murder.

On Sept. 26, M.S., who was still in custody, agreed to waive her rights and be interviewed by FBI agents. She said she was a long-time girlfriend of the victim. She said on the morning of the murder, she and A.S. had gone to Gallup to buy liquor and then returned to the Mexican Springs residence.

She said later that day, she and A.S. got into a physical fight during which A.S. punched her and pulled her hair.

She said she left and went home where she told Smith, her son, what happened. Smith said he was going to stop it so he, M.S. and two other of her children decided to drive back to A.S.’s house.

When A.S. opened the door, she said she and Smith “jumped him.” She said she told Smith “no weapons” and to fight him like a man using only his fists. She said all she did was kick A.S. in the face.

After the fight, A.S. was laying on the floor. The others left and A.S. said Smith told her when they got in the car that he had stabbed A.S. two times. She added that she had been going out with A.S. for about eight years and he was always beating her.
Smith also agreed to be interviewed. He said when M.S. told him about the fight, he decided that something had to be done about it, which is why he confronted A.S. later that day. He said that he had a pocket knife with him and when the two got into a physical fight, Smith said he “shanked him.”

He showed officers a cut on his hand which he said occurred when A.S. bit him. He also said he was so intoxicated when he went to confront him that he lost control. He said as he was stabbing A.S. in the back, A.S. told him to stop.

He told FBI agents that he did not know A.S. had died until he was told later by police. He also said he felt guilty for what happened.

Shonto man sentenced for stabbing, death

A Shonto, Arizona, man has been sentenced to 6 and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to stabbing and killing one of his friends.

Landis Grant Yellow, 29, will also face three years of supervised probation after he has served his federal sentence. He will also be given credit for the time he has already served.

Yellow was arrested in August, 2019, some 18 months after being involved in an incident on the Arizona side of the reservation. Yellow said he got into an altercation with L.B.

“I was angry at L.B. because of the way he was treating my friends,” he said in his plea agreement. “I intentionally stabbed him which led to his death.”

If found guilty he was looking at a possible 15 years in federal prison but because he accepted responsibility for his actions and showed remorse, the prosecution agreed to recommend to the judge that he be given a sentence at the lower end of the sentencing guidelines.

After many motions, man sentenced to 20-plus years

Melvin James, 44, was sentenced to 20 and a half years in federal prison recently after he pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend in 2018.

James had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was facing, if found guilty, a maximum sentence of life in prison. The prosecution agreed, after James accepted responsibility for his actions and showed remorse, to recommend a prison sentence of no greater than 22 years.

James will be given credit for time served. He was arrested in November of 2018 and has remained in custody since that date.

In his plea agreement, James admitted that in November of 2018, he had stabbed his girlfriend, identified in court records as F.P., multiple times in the head, chest, upper back and arms. An autopsy later concluded she died of multiple force injuries.

The court records show multiple motions to suppress evidence and statements made by James after he was arrested.

He had filed several motions outside of his attorneys objecting to the fact that Navajo Police refused to help him investigate portions of his defense. After police said that it was not their responsibility, he filed motions asking the court to investigate his defense attorneys.

There was even a request to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea. In that hand-written motion, he declared his innocence of all of the charges and pointed out to the presiding judge that the court was required to determine that their evidence was strong enough that it would result in a guilty plea if the case went to trial.

He said he only agreed to plead guilty after he was told he could get life in prison if he was found guilty. He said he was told by one of his defense attorneys that “you had to sound convincing before the judge or you would go to trial and you will get a life sentence.”

In another hand-written plea before the presiding judge, James contented that his constitutional rights were being violated and asked the judge to determine if his guilty plea was made voluntarily.
The judge dismissed his handwritten motions and instructed his defense attorneys to act on these motions as they see fit.

A year, 2 months is sentence for robbery

A resident of the Arizona portion of the Navajo Reservation, Philarris Whitesinger, was sentenced on Sept. 29 to a year and two months in federal prison.

Whitesinger was arrested in November of 2019 on charges he used intimidation to rob T.J., who was working at that time as a clerk at a gas station in Tuba City.

T.J. told Navajo Police that the robber walked up to him and demanded all of the small bills in the register. He then lifted his shirt to reveal a gun, which later was found to be a paintball gun.

The clerk gave Whitesinger the money which Whitesinger fled from the store.

These kinds go cases are usually handled by tribal judges but no reason was given in court papers as to why this merited a federal prosecution.

Another unusual aspect of this case is that Whitesinger agreed to plead guilty to robbery without getting a plea agreement which gave him no leverage to get a lower sentence.

Besides the 14-month sentence, Whitesinger will be on three years of supervised release when he completes the sentence. He will be given credit for time served.

He is currently not in custody. He was ordered to surrender himself on Oct. 29 to the U. S. Marshall to start serving his sentence.

Woman faces murder charges in stabbing of partner

Second-degree murder charges were filed Oct. 8 against a Navajo, New Mexico, woman who has been accused of stabbing her partner.

Wenalda Joe, 24, was held in custody by the U. S. Marshall’s Office in Albuquerque pending an arraignment.

She is being accused of stabbing to death her live-in partner, identified in court records as C.J., on March 4 at their home.

Navajo Police received word the following day of a man who had died at that address which led to the police investigation.

When police found the body, they noted a number of bruises as well as a puncture wound in the lower back. At the time the body was first examined, police reported that death had occurred a number of hours prior to their visit.

Joe first told police that C.J. had left the house about 1 p.m. to go to the convenience store to buy vitamin water and then go somewhere to buy $40 worth of marijuana.

While walking back to his home, three men assaulted him and stole his cash, she said, adding that the assault occurred near the hogan next to the community’s elementary school.

She said during the assault he was also stabbed.

She said after being told of the assault, she began smoking the marijuana while C.J. went into his bedroom and laid down. After smoking the marijuana, she observed that C.J. stopped moving and his breathing slowed down.

She said she became worried and contacted a neighbor who helped her give C.J. medical attention until an ambulance arrived.

When police arrived, she gave permission for them to search the house. Police found a wallet and cellphone belonging to C.J. The wallet contained at least a $5 bill, which made police question the report of an assault since in this kind of case the people committing the assault usually take the victim’s wallet and cellphone.

Another aspect of the case that was also troubling to police centered around a search of the house, which found blood stains on the wall of the bedroom and throughout the house. But police could not find blood stains outside of the house or between the house and the elementary school.

They were also not able to determine if the stabbing occurred recently or a few hours before or even 12 to 24 hours before.

Another search, using special equipment to detect blood stains, found spots on the couch and in the living room that had been cleaned up in an attempt to conceal them.

Investigators also found two trash bags filled with medical tape and bandages which indicated to them that the items were used over several hours if not days.

On July 29, Joe was interviewed again and she recanted her original story, saying the events began the day before police arrived when Joe and C.J. returned from shopping and began consuming alcohol.

After a while, the two began arguing. Verbal taunts turned into a physical fight, she said, adding that during the fight she picked up a metal chair to repeatedly assault C.J. while kicking and punching him as well.

She said the metal leg must have punctured him because he started bleeding.

She said she tried to clean up the blood and other signs of the fight before police arrived on the scene. She added that she feared she had really hurt C.J. but it was not until the next day that he died.

She also admitted that C.J. did not lash out at her during the fight and was not necessarily defending himself. She also admitted that she started the fight and was not in fear for her life. She said she just wanted to hurt him.

As a result of her new statements, investigators got another search warrant and examined the legs of the metal chair they found inside the house. When they did, they found one of the legs showed blood-like substances on it.

---