PHOENIX — A man from Arizona has been sentenced to life in prison after he reportedly murdered a woman.
Tre C. James, 31, of Pinon, Ariz., was sentenced on Sept. 23 by United States District Judge Douglas L. Rayes to life in prison on count one and an additional 10 years in prison on count two to run consecutively, for the murder of Jamie Yazzie, a woman classified as a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person from the Navajo Nation. A federal jury previously found James guilty of First Degree Murder for Yazzie’s death. The jury also found James guilty of several acts of domestic violence committed against three other women, all members of the Navajo Nation. Rayes sentenced James to an additional 10 years in prison to run concurrently, and five years of supervised release for each of those assaults.
“Securing justice for missing victims of violence necessitates courage, discipline, and collaboration,” U.S. Attorney Gary Restaino said. “It also requires all of us to demonstrate our commitment with alacrity: for communities to report their missing loved ones as soon as possible; for victim advocates to engage early and often with next of kin; and for agents and prosecutors to charge cases as soon as they are ready to be charged.”
James shot and killed Yazzie on the Navajo Nation in the summer of 2019. He hid her remains on the Hopi Reservation, where they remained concealed for almost three years. Multiple agencies worked together to investigate Yazzie’s disappearance, including the FBI, Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety Criminal Investigation Services, Navajo Nation Police Department, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Navajo County Sheriff’s Office.
Investigators faced significant challenges, including the fact that Yazzie had not been reported missing for several days, James had cleaned the crime scene, and the murder occurred while James and Yazzie were home alone together; the global pandemic, which hit the Navajo Nation particularly hard, also presented significant challenges. Investigators persevered and, during the investigation, discovered the assaults against other women, many of which had never been reported to law enforcement.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer E. LaGrange and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon K. Sexton, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Phoenix, handled the prosecution. Yazzie’s mother, father, grandmother and other relatives provided support to the investigation and prosecution over several years.
