Dewayne George, Violent Crime Spree, New Mexico 2024

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - A violent crime spree on the Navajo Nation has led to the charging of Dewayne George, 22, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, with involvement in a series of shootings and murder.

According to a criminal complaint, on April 24, 2024, a family traveling south on U.S. Highway 491 reported to law enforcement that they had been followed, rear-ended, and shot at by someone sitting in the front passenger seat of a white SUV.

Navajo Nation Police Department officers in the area were on the lookout for an SUV matching the description when they observed the vehicle driving southbound on U.S. Highway 491. Officers pursued the vehicle, which attempted to evade them before crashing. The officers took all three individuals in the vehicle into custody, later determined to be George, Rydell Happy, 30, and Brittania Navaho, 28.

Further investigation revealed that earlier that day, George, Happy, and Navaho had been involved in a separate shooting incident in Gallup, New Mexico. Additionally, they were implicated in the murder of an individual identified as the victim.

The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from Navajo Nation Police Department, the Navajo Nation Department of Criminal Investigations and the McKinley County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney R. Eliot Neal is prosecuting the case.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program, which aims to aid in the prevention and response to missing or murdered Indigenous people through the resolution of MMIP cases and communication, coordination, and collaboration with federal, Tribal, state, and local partners.

Dewayne George faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the current charges. A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/us-attorney-albuquerque-fbi-charge-third-individual-connected-violent-day-long-crime