Zuni Pueblo Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Involuntary Manslaughter Charge

U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of New Mexico
11 January 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ALBUQUERQUE – Darold Ray ZunieFeathers, 20, a member and resident of Zuni Pueblo, N.M., pled guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., to an involuntary manslaughter charge.

ZunieFeathers was arrested in April 2016, on a criminal complaint charging him with involuntary manslaughter. According to the complaint, ZunieFeathers killed a Zuni Pueblo man when he ran over him with his vehicle on July 29, 2015, on the Zuni Indian Reservation in McKinley County, N.M. At the time ZunieFeathers ran over the victim, ZunieFeathers was driving under the influence of alcohol. ZunieFeathers was subsequently indicted on the same charge on May 10, 2016.

During today’s proceedings, ZunieFeathers pled guilty to the indictment and admitted killing the victim by driving recklessly while under the influence of alcohol. ZunieFeathers acknowledged that the alcohol rendered him incapable of exercising clear judgment and a steady hand in operating the vehicle.

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

This case was investigated by the Gallup office of the FBI and the Zuni Police Department and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Marshall.