AUG 6, 2022
An Arizona man has been arrested on murder charges involving a woman whose remains turned up on an Indian reservation more than two years after she vanished.
lawandcrime.com
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The first two counts of an indictment against James allege different theories of murder. The first alleges murder with “premeditation and malice aforethought,” and the second alleges that the victim died via the use of a firearm. Several other charges are connected to alleged domestic violence and assault incidents involving other victims.
According to federal court documents, several witnesses told federal authorities that the defendant had threatened Yazzie with a gun several times in the past.
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The criminal complaint summarizes the alleged facts as follows:
TRE JAMES was the last person to see the victim alive, on or about the early morning hours of July 1, 2019. Two witnesses, J.N. and J.T.L. left the home of TRE JAMES, having witnessed TRE JAMES and the victim together, with no one else in the home. TRE JAMES and the victim had been arguing about infidelity on the night of June 30, 2019 and early July 1, 2019. Even though TRE JAMES was the boyfriend of the victim, J.Y. [Jamie Yazzie], he appears to have stopped efforts to contact her as of about 1:00pm on July 1, 2019. On or before 1:13am on July 1, 2019, the victim’s phone was either turned off or no longer working and efforts of family and friends to contact her were left unanswered. The victim failed to appear for work on the morning of July 1, 2019 as scheduled and has never been seen again by co-workers. The victim was killed by a gunshot wound to the back of her head. On the night of June 30, 2019 and early morning July 1, 2019, J.N. saw TRE JAMES with a gun. The victim’s blood was identified in the bedroom of TRE JAMES. Spent shell casings were found there as well. In the days after July 1, 2019, TRE JAMES spent several days in his aunt’s home, where family witnessed TRE JAMES acting in a strange manner. His sister saw him with a handgun, and he was “aggressive, nervous and paranoid."
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The defendant’s own sister provided key evidence, according to the complaint. She allegedly said that “on June 30, 2019, she had received messages on Facebook Messenger from the victim, telling her that TRE JAMES shot two rounds off, and chased the victim back into the house.” ...
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Yazzie’s brother — identified in the complaint as
J.N. or by his nickname “Smurf” — and his girlfriend were allegedly hanging out with James and Yazzie on the night and morning in question, according to a 2019 interview with J.N. cited in the criminal complaint.
“It was just the four of them,” the document asserts. “The victim was guzzling drinks. She was mad because TRE JAMES was cheating on her. The victim said she was going to leave. TRE JAMES told the victim she needed to go to sleep.”
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Neither J.N. nor his girlfriend “wanted to be there,” the document continues, “so they left early that morning, on July 1, around 2:00 a.m.” However, before they left, James allegedly told J.N. that he had “pieces” and showed J.N. a handgun and a shotgun.
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Several additional counts of this week’s indictment pertain to a victim identified only as an intimate partner or dating partner with the initials
L.S. Count three of the indictment alleges that James suffocated or attempted to suffocate L.S.; count four alleges that James seized, confined, kidnapped, or held L.S.; count five alleges that James strangled or attempted to strangle L.S.; and count six also alleges suffocation. The incidents involving L.S. are alleged to have occurred between June 1, 2019, and Oct. 1, 2020.
A seventh count alleges strangulation of another intimate or dating partner identified as
E.B. on or around June 22, 2021.
An eighth count alleges that James assaulted another victim, identified only as
R.K., with a dangerous weapon and with the intent to cause bodily harm on or around April 8, 2018.
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