A woman from Crownpoint is now facing 30 months in prison after she allegedly drove drunk in 2020 and killed a man.
According to court documents, Ryntana Yazzie, a member of the Navajo Nation, had been drinking alcohol and was driving south on Highway 371 outside Farmington on Aug. 4, 2020 when her vehicle veered into oncoming traffic and struck a semi-truck driven by a man who was driving northbound. Yazzie, 34, crossed the center line into the victim's truck and did not brake prior to the crash.The man attempted to veer to the right to avoid Yazzie.
The impact occurred head on, slightly off center.
The man died at the scene of the crash. The Office of the Medical Investigator determined that he suffered from blunt force trauma to the head and neck. He suffered hemorrhage in the neck and head which would have been nearly immediately fatal.
Yazzie suffered a broken left arm and a broken leg from the crash and was transported to San Juan Regional Medical Center before she was flown to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque.
Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office, announced on March 8 that Yazzie was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Yazzie pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter on Nov. 2.
Upon her release from prison, she will be subject to three years of supervised release.
