Arizona man sentenced to life in prison for killing Navajo woman

PHOENIX – A United States District Court judge sentenced a man to life in prison for the murder of a missing Navajo woman, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona announced on Monday.

Tre C. James, 31, of Pinon, was sentenced for murdering his girlfriend, Jamie Yazzie, in summer 2019. Yazzie was 32 and the mother of three sons when James shot and killed her on the Navajo Nation and later hid her body on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona.

Despite multiple agencies investigating the woman’s disappearance her remains wouldn’t be discovered until November 2021. The U.S. Attorney’s Office point to specific challenges that hindered investigations, such as, the COVID-19 pandemic, Yazzie not being reported missing for days and James cleaning the crime scene.

James was convicted of first degree murder by a federal grand jury in 2023. The jury also found him guilty of of several acts of domestic violence toward three other Navajo women. Along with the life sentence, United States District Judge Douglas L. Rayes added 10 years in prison to run concurrently and fiver years of supervised release for each of his assault charges.

“Today’s sentence underscores the fact that Jamie Yazzie was not forgotten by the FBI or our federal and tribal partners,” Jose A. Perez, FBI Phoenix Special Agent in charge, said in a press release. “Our office is committed to addressing the violence that Native American communities in Arizona face every day and we will continue our efforts to protect families, help victims and ensure that justice is served in each case we pursue.”

Yazzie’s case gained attention through the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women grassroots movement that draws attention to widespread violence against Indigenous women and girls in the United States and Canada.

The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian Affairs characterizes the violence against Indigenous women as a crisis.

Women from Native American and Alaska Native communities have long suffered from high rates of assault, abduction and murder. A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice found that more than four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women — 84% — have experienced violence in their lifetimes, including 56% who have been victimized by sexual violence.

“Securing justice for missing victims of violence necessitates courage, discipline, and collaboration,” United States 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.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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