Sho’Nee Ganadonegro Pleads Guilty in Child Abuse Crash

Albuquerque, N.M. — A Navajo woman admitted today to driving drunk and recklessly through Laguna Pueblo, putting four Native children in danger during a terrifying 2015 joyride. Sho’Nee Ganadonegro, 26, stood before a federal judge and pleaded guilty to a federal child abuse charge stemming from the incident.

Ganadonegro, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and resident of Albuquerque, was indicted in January 2016 after allegedly operating a motor vehicle in a life-threatening manner on November 1, 2015, in Indian Country within Cibola County. The indictment charged her with engaging in child abuse under federal law due to the presence of four Indian children in the vehicle at the time.

During the court hearing today, Ganadonegro admitted she negligently operated the vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Her actions, she acknowledged, amounted to reckless driving that directly endangered the lives and health of the minors riding with her. No injuries were reported, but prosecutors stressed the potential for catastrophe.

Under the terms of her plea agreement, Ganadonegro will be sentenced to a term of probation—length to be determined by the court. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled. The plea sidesteps a trial but leaves unresolved questions about how such a high-risk situation was allowed to unfold in the first place.

The case was jointly investigated by the Laguna/Acoma Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Office of Justice Services and the Laguna Pueblo Tribal Police Department. Tribal and federal authorities have long struggled with enforcement challenges in remote parts of Indian Country, where jurisdictional overlaps often delay justice.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Spindle is prosecuting the case. As federal probation looms, the incident stands as a grim reminder of the consequences when alcohol, recklessness, and children collide on the desolate roads of rural New Mexico.