Navajo man gets 24 years in prison for stabbing a victim to death
Jul 16, 2023, 7:15 AM | Updated: 7:20 am
Keet Seel, pictured above, is one of the best-preserved cliff dwellings in North America, along with Betatakin and Inscription House, where the assailant came from. (National Park Service photo)
(National Park Service photo)
PHOENIX — The Arizona District Attorney’s Office sentenced a Navajo man to 24 years in prison for murdering a victim by knife last November.
A Friday news release revealed Judge Dominic Lanza sentenced the assailant to exactly 292 months on June 26 of this year.
Eric Lee Kinney, 37, pleaded guilty to second degree murder, according to the Arizona District Attorney’s Office.
He stabbed a victim to death around Nov. 5, a statement from the office said.
Although he initially fled from law enforcement, an investigation from the FBI and the Navajo National Division of Public Safety tracked him down.
“Upon his arrest, Kinney directed law enforcement agents to where he had hidden the murder weapon,” according to a statement from the Arizona District Attorney’s Office.
Kinney is a member of the Navajo Nation, the statement said. He was from Inscription House, which is part of the Navajo Reservation.
Inscription House, along with Betatakin and Keet Seel, are each part of a national monument. The three sites are some of the best-preserved and most elaborate cliff dwellings ever discovered, according to the National Park Service.
After Kinney’s 24-year sentence is over, he will be under five years of supervised release, according to the Arizona District Attorney’s Office.
After his release, Kinney will be under five years of supervised release.
