Jamie Yazie in images released by the FBI.
Arizona man Arrested on suspicion of murder It is related to the disappearance of a woman whose body was found on an Indian reservation more than two years after her disappearance. According to federal court documents, Tre C. James30, in Pinon, Arizona.
8 count indictment Lifted this week James claims to have shot and killed Jamie Yazzyalso of Pinon, according to US Attorney’s Office for the District of ArizonaYazzie was identified in a criminal complaint against James’ girlfriend. James was arrested Thursday. Federal Court Minutes indicates
FBI said before Yazie worked as a nursing assistant. She was 31 when she died.
According to court documents, James and Yazie were fighting over an affair from the night of June 30, 2019 to the morning of July 1, 2019. criminal prosecution. federal prosecutors, press release In November 2021, Yazie’s body was found on the Hopi Indian Reservation.
The first two counts in the indictment against James allege different murder theories. The first claims the murder was “premeditated and malicious,” while the second claims the victim died using a firearm. Several other charges relate to alleged domestic violence and assault cases involving other victims.
Several witnesses told federal officials that the defendant had threatened Yazzy with a gun in the past, according to federal court documents.
The criminal complaint summarizes the alleged facts as follows:
TRE JAMES was the last person to see the victim alive on or around the early hours of July 1, 2019. two witnesses, JN and JTL After witnessing TRE JAMES and the victim together, he left TRE JAMES’ home. There is no one else at home. TRE JAMES and the victim were arguing about an affair on the night of June 30, 2019 and her on the night of July 1, 2019. TRE JAMES was the victim’s boyfriend, but JY [Jamie Yazzie], he apparently stopped trying to contact her around 1pm on July 1, 2019. Her friends who contacted her remained unanswered. As planned, the victim was unable to show up for work on the morning of July 1, 2019, and was never seen again by his colleagues. The victim died from a gunshot wound to the back of his head. On the night of June 30, 2019 and on the early morning of July 1, 2019, JN saw TRE JAMES with a gun. The victim’s blood was found in TRE JAMES’ bedroom. A used cartridge case was also found there. Since July 1, 2019, TRE JAMES spent a few days at her aunt’s house. The family witnessed TRE JAMES’s bizarre behavior. His sister saw him holding a handgun and he was “aggressive, nervous and paranoid”.
According to the criminal complaint, the victim was staying in the house where the defendant’s grandmother lived. A search of the house found “a used his 9 mm casing, a used .22 casing, a red substance on the floor that looked like blood, and a white substance on the floor that looked like cleaning agent.” Complaints read.
Jamie Yazie appears in two images released by the FBI.
According to the complaint, the defendant’s sister provided key evidence. She was quoted as saying, “On June 30, 2019, I received a message on her Facebook Messenger from the victim telling her that TRE JAMES shot her twice and drove the victim home.” . She also said the defendant was “aggressive, nervous, paranoid and armed with a handgun” the week after the victim disappeared, and claimed the defendant had no idea where the victim was.
The sister is also said to have told federal agents that she warned Yazzy not to date James.
The criminal complaint continues by rolling out a series of heinous charges. Yazzy was allegedly dating James while she was “legally” married to a man who was in prison at the time of her death. It is said that James was seeing, or at least interested in, another woman. Yazzy said she could have been seeing a man other than James, she is told.
Yazzie’s brother — identified in the complaint as: JN Or by his nickname “The Smurfs” — according to a 2019 interview with JN cited in the criminal complaint, his girlfriend was allegedly hanging out with James and Yazzy on the night and morning in question.
“It was just four people,” the document claims. “Victim was guzzling alcohol. She was angry because TRE JAMES had cheated on her. Victim said he was leaving. I said yes.”
Neither JN nor his girlfriend “wanted to be there,” the document continues. Showed JN a handgun and a shotgun.
Investigations continued. Scene and phone were searched. Two years have passed.
According to the complaint, Yazzy’s body was found on November 23, 2021, and “Pendleton-style blankets, blue tarps with ropes, and other materials” were sent for forensic examination.
Then came another round of police interviews.
In an interview on Jan. 26, 2022, James allegedly stated that Yazzy left the company on the morning of Jul. 1, 2019, along with his brother JN and his brother’s girlfriend. James allegedly denied owning his gun and denied being “rowdy” with Yazzy.
Later interviews with JN revealed that James “received a gun for his birthday”, that James showed JN a gun, and that JN’s increasingly drunk Yazzy said James “pointed a gun at her”. He is said to have heard him claim that he “actually tried to shoot me.” And. “
According to JN, James “tried to make fun of it. He said it was a misunderstanding and he was just playing around and accidentally pulled the trigger.” So was what happened that night, according to complaints.
After an additional conversation with James and Yazzy, JN said he left home with his girlfriend at the aforementioned time: between 1 and 2 am on July 1st.
JN’s girlfriend, JTL, loosely corroborated the story, the complaint says. However, she added that she saw “many weapons including knives, swords and what appeared to be a homemade shotgun” in her home.JTL also said the defendant and the victim were fighting.
Authorities believe no one saw Yazie alive after that early morning departure.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation alleges that James committed other crimes as well.
Some additional counts of this week’s indictments relate to victims identified only as intimate or dating partners with the initials LS I count three indictments alleging that James choked or attempted to suffocate LS. I count four allegations that James seized, imprisoned, kidnapped, or held LS. Count five allegations that James strangled or attempted to strangle LS. Count 6 also claims suffocation. The incident involving LS allegedly occurred between June 1, 2019 and he October 1, 2020.
A seventh count alleges that he strangled another intimate or dating partner identified as: EBs On or about June 22, 2021.
An eighth count alleges that James assaulted another victim. RKuse dangerous weapons for the purpose of causing bodily harm on or around April 8, 2018.
James appears in court on Thursday, with another hearing scheduled for Aug. 9 in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Yazzy’s disappearance was investigated by the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety and Criminal Investigation, Navajo Nation Police, Indian Affairs, Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to the Justice Department.
“The Arizona District Attorney’s Office is committed to addressing the persistent violence endured by Native American families and communities in Arizona. It also includes addressing the key issue of missing or killing, and indigenous conduct: domestic violence,” the office said. “This office and the Department of Justice view this work as a priority for the law enforcement department.”
Read the criminal complaint, indictment, DOJ press release, and the FBI’s missing Yazzie poster in the reader below.