A Brimhall man was sentenced to 21 years in prison on June 4 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder of a man whose body he later burned in an attempt to conceal the evidence.

According to court documents, on July 1, 2019, an individual brought Gilbert John, Jr. a stolen car and told him to «get rid of» a person locked in the trunk. John and the individual drove around smoking meth before stopping in a remote area using back roads.

When the victim tried to escape from the trunk, John stabbed the victim repeatedly with a machete and slammed the trunk door on him. After driving the car to a residence and leaving it for days, John later towed the car to a remote area and set it on...

A Pine Hill man was sentenced on June 7 to 48 months in prison for sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl.

According to court documents, on May 28, 2022, Tony Jake Jr., 75, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, approached the seven-year-old victim as she played outside a church she attended with her grandmother. Jake separated the victim from other children playing nearby and put his hand down the front of her pants.

Around this time, the victim’s grandmother noticed she was not with the other children and began looking for her, eventually finding her with Jake. Shortly after, the victim’s mother picked her up from her grandmother. The victim told her mother what Jake had done to...

A Thoreau woman was charged by indictment with involuntary manslaughter.

Nora Abeita, 49, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, appeared before a federal judge on June 4 and will remain on conditions of release pending trial, which has not been scheduled.

According to the indictment, on May 28, 2023, Abeita was driving without due caution when she killed a man.

If convicted of the current charges, Abeita faces up to eight years in prison.

The Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Nation Police Department and the Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas J. Marshall...

A Brimhall man was sentenced to 21 years in prison on June 4 after pleading guilty to second-degree murder of a man whose body he later burned in an attempt to conceal the evidence.

According to court documents, on July 1, 2019, an individual brought Gilbert John, Jr. a stolen car and told him to "get rid of" a person locked in the trunk. John and the individual drove around smoking meth before stopping in a remote area using back roads.

When the victim tried to escape from the trunk, John stabbed the victim repeatedly with a machete and slammed the trunk door on him. After driving the car to a residence and leaving it for days, John later towed the car to a remote area and set it on...