PHOENIX, ARIZ. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)), published as received.
PHOENIX, Ariz. – A member of the Navajo Nation who was convicted of killing a man near Steamboat, Arizona, was sentenced on May 21, 2026, in federal court.
Thurman Yazzie, 26, of Keams Canyon, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Douglas L. Rayes to 240 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release. Yazzie previously pleaded guilty to Second Degree Murder.
On March 26, 2023, Yazzie attacked the victim with a knife, stabbing him multiple times, causing his death. Yazzie then placed the victim’s body on the back of an ATV and took it into the woods where he set fire to the victim’s body. The crime occurred on the Navajo Nation.
The FBI Phoenix Division’s Gallup Office, the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations and the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office in New Mexico conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney, Anthony W. Church, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.
CASE NUMBER: 23-CR-08057
RELEASE NUMBER: 2026-089_Yazzie
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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/
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