Evan Haceesa, Second-Degree Murder, New Mexico 2023

A 29-year-old man from Nageezi, New Mexico, has been sentenced to 17 years and 6 months in prison for second-degree murder, according to authorities.

Evan Haceesa, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, pleaded guilty to the charge on March 22, 2023, after attacking his girlfriend, Jane Doe, at his father’s residence in Nageezi on August 28, 2022.

According to court documents, Haceesa attacked Jane Doe following a familial argument, punching her in the face until she lost consciousness and then kicking her lifeless body several times.

After the initial attack, which lasted approximately 10-15 minutes, Haceesa retrieved a wheel barrel and placed Jane Doe’s body in it before he went inside to sleep. An officer from the Navajo Police Department responding to a report of domestic violence arrived on scene later that night and found Jane Doe unclothed and unresponsive, still in the wheel barrel.

Jane Doe was airlifted to the San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico, where she underwent surgery and had to be connected to a ventilator to assist breathing. Her injuries included significant blood and air in her abdomen, a perforated small intestine, bleeding in and around the small intestine, a bilateral nose fracture, and partially collapsed lungs.

Unfortunately, Jane Doe’s condition worsened over the course of a week, and after two additional surgeries she succumbed to her injuries on September 8, 2022.

The Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Matthew J. McGinley is prosecuting the case.

Upon his release from prison, Haceesa will be subject to 5 years of supervised release.

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