Danny Stansfield sentenced to nearly 44 years

GRANTS, N.M.

Family members of murder victim Sonny Jim spoke Friday about loss, memory and resilience before Danny Stansfield was sentenced to nearly 44 years in prison for a double homicide that occurred more than 16 years ago.

Stansfield, who is 77 and nearing his 78th birthday, received consecutive sentences totaling just under four and a half decades. The sentence accounts for credit for time already served, meaning he is unlikely to be released.

Outside the courtroom, Sonlatsa Jim said the punishment still does not fully reflect the harm done.

“He’s a killer. He’s a brutal, calculated killer,” Jim said of Stansfield. “As elder and fragile as he tries to look, he is a brutal, violent, calculated killer. Don’t be fooled.”

Jim said the sentencing marked only one moment in a long, emotionally exhausting journey for her family, particularly for the youngest children who never had the chance to truly know their grandfather.

When speaking about her youngest daughter, Jim said the child’s understanding of her grandfather is shaped entirely by stories, photos and memories shared by others.

“She always would wonder how he took the girls to go ride horses,” Jim said. “How did it feel? What was that experience like? Because they all talk about it, memories of riding horses with grandpa.”

Jim described the past week in court as a “roller coaster,” marked by painful testimony and the resurfacing of old wounds. Still, she said her resolve never wavered.

“If it doesn’t go the way it should go, we’re going to keep fighting,” she said. “We’re going to keep going. We’re going to take it to the next level, and we will handle anything that comes.”

Her daughter, Zunneh-bah Jim, who read victim impact statements in court on behalf of her family and younger sisters, reflected on the long passage of time since the killings and the memories that were taken from them.

“I’m the oldest of four daughters,” she said. “I was 12 at the time. My youngest sister was just over one when this double homicide happened.”

Zunneh-bah Jim said much of her role over the years has been preserving what memories she can and passing them down to siblings who were too young to remember.

“That’s all we can do when a grandparent is taken, not just a natural death, but stolen,” she said. “That’s unfair to my baby sister. It’s unfair to so many youth who needed a role model like my grandpa.”

She described photographs shown in court, including one she took herself of her youngest sister holding their grandfather’s vest.

“I was behind the camera,” she said. “My mom was there. My grandpa was there. That’s all we have.”

Even for herself, Zunneh-bah Jim said memory has become fragile over time.

“From birth to 12, I don’t have sharp memory,” she said. “I knew then my memory would be the sharpest of the 12 years I spent with my grandpa alive. Every memory, his scent, his sound, his smell; I write it down, because I know I’m going to forget one day.”

She said the sentencing brought accountability but not closure.

“We hear the verdict today, but it still hurts,” she said. “This advocacy is not going to stop. This is just one of hundreds, if not thousands, of impacted families still fighting for justice.”

The family said they plan to continue honoring Sonny Jim by sharing his teachings, stories and example with younger generations, a way, they said, of ensuring that what was taken from them is not forgotten.

For one count of first-degree attempted murder of Fernando Begay, the jury found Stansfield not guilty.

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