Navajo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Involuntary Manslaughter Charge

U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of New Mexico
1 December 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBUQUERQUE – Alrenzon Yazzie, 20, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Sanostee, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an involuntary manslaughter charge.

Yazzie was arrested in Sept. 2017, on a criminal complaint charging him with killing a Navajo woman on Sept. 3, 2017, on the Navajo Indian Reservation in San Juan County, N.M. According to the complaint, Yazzie killed the victim by running her over with a vehicle. At the time Yazzie ran over the victim, Yazzie was driving under the influence of alcohol.

During today’s proceedings, Yazzie pled guilty to a felony information charging him with involuntary manslaughter and admitted killing the victim by striking her with his vehicle while driving recklessly while under the influence of alcohol. Yazzie acknowledged that the alcohol rendered him incapable of exercising clear judgment and a steady hand in operating the vehicle.

At sentencing, Yazzie faces a maximum statutory penalty of eight years in federal prison. A sentencing hearing has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Novaline D. Wilson is prosecuting the case.