A Smith Lake man who is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation pled guilty to charges of second degree murder after he reportedly shot and killed a man.
According to court documents, Josiah Alan Smith, 29, shot and killed a man at a home near Church Rock on the Nation on May 17, 2021. Smith, who had arrived at the residence earlier in the day, allegedly fired into a window from outside the home, hitting the victim in the back and killing him.
The FBI, with the assistance of the McKinley County Sheriff's Office and Gallup Police Department, arrested Smith in Gamerco on Aug. 21, 2021.
Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced on Aug. 10 that Smith pled guilty in federal court to second degree murder. Smith will remain in custody pending sentencing which has not been scheduled.
At sentencing, Smith faces up to life in prison.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations and MCSO. Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew T. Nelson and Blake Nichols are prosecuting the case.
