Winslow Police urge public to come forward with info on a 2013 murder of a Hopi woman
WINSLOW
On Nov. 29, 2013, Winslow Police responded to a call from the Winslow Inn about a possible homicide.
A 26-year-old Hopi woman, Tenisha Yoiwyma was found in the shower in one of the rooms, dead from blunt force trauma.
No one has ever been arrested for her death, but a detective for the police force, Quentin Hayes, said the department has a suspect and he expects that an arrest could only be a few weeks away.
Although this case goes back to 2013, Hayes said the current work on the case could not be considered a cold case investigation since the case was never bogged down and filed away.
Instead, from almost the very beginning of the investigation, the department has gathered a lot of evidence implicating a suspect but at the time, the county prosecutor did not think it was enough to file charges.
Since then, the county prosecutor has been replaced by another prosecutor who has taken a different stance on the evidence and feels there is enough to file charges.
The department is now clearing up some loose ends and one of the things that needs to be done is to locate some other possible witnesses to what when on in that motel room that night.
“We already have some witnesses, but we have been told that there were others there that night,” he said, adding that some people may have been afraid to come forward back in 2013, but now that time has passed, they will be willing to come forward to share what they know.
Anyone with any knowledge of the victim or what happened that night are urged to contact Hayes at 928-289-3516 weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow