A Ramah man is now being held in federal custody in Albuquerque after being charged with assault resulting in serious injury.

Nathan Singer Lee, born in 1994, was arrested on Feb. 7 in Gallup.

According to federal court records, Lee was arrested by tribal police on Feb. 1 at the home of the victim when he got in a fight with one of her neighbors. He got out of jail later that day and asked the victim, who is identified in court records only as “Jane Doe,” if he could stay at her house overnight.

She agreed, but began having problems with her guest when she found him in her kitchen at 3 am. She said she told him to go back to sleep, but he said he had been waiting up for her.

She said he then threw her to the ground and when she tried to get up, he threw her to the ground again, this time causing her to hit her head on something. She said her head began bleeding and she told him to stop.

He refused and when she asked why, he said, “Because you and your boyfriend are snitches.”

She said she tried to get her cell phone to call police, but he snatched it and used a hatchet to cut it in half. He then kicked her in her mouth and told her he could kill her. He then kicked her several more times.

He then reached into her pockets and took out the keys to her truck and her EBT card. She said he punched her and went into the bedroom he was staying in to get his jacket. When the woman began to yell for help, Lee came back and punched her four more times.

She began yelling for help as Lee picked up the hatchet and came toward her. She said later she thought she was going to be killed. Instead he left the house and left the area in her pickup.

She said she called police with another cell phone she had. She was transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital for treatment of her injuries, which included lacerations to the back of her head, her left ear and lip. She also suffered significant bruising to the left side of her face and left eye.

She described the level of pain she felt during the attack as a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.

The offenses were committed within the exterior boundaries of the Ramah Navajo reservation, of which Doe and Lee are both members.

Staff Reports