Justice for murdered Navajo woman, Jamie Yazzie, finally served

Navajo woman Jamie Yazzie would have turned 36 in September. Instead of marking that milestone with her, Yazzie's family was in a federal courtroom in Phoenix on Sept. 27 as Tre James was found guilty of murdering her.

It had been more than four years since Yazzie disappeared from Pinon, Arizona, on June 30, 2019, and her family had so far been denied justice. But Yazzie is one of the lucky ones — her case was solved. James will be sentenced in January.

Indigenous women face murder rates that are more than 10 times the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. However, on Native American reservations, murders rarely result in convictions. Sometimes, they aren’t even reported or logged.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates there are about 4,200 Indigenous missing and murdered cases nationwide that have not been solved.

“The costs associated with getting justice are tremendous,” Yazzie family attorney Darlene Gomez told Phoenix New Times. “If the Yazzies didn’t have an attorney who was putting pressure on and holding the criminal justice system to the standards of their policies and procedures, I don’t believe this case would have gotten so far.”

The cost of justice for Jamie Yazzie’s family

Gomez began working with Yazzie's family a month after Yazzie went missing. She was with the Yazzies every step of the way: organizing the initial search for Jamie, fundraising for billboards to raise awareness, communicating with federal and tribal law enforcement, preparing the family for trial and sorting out logistics to get them to the courthouse after the trial was moved from Flagstaff to Phoenix.

Cultural disconnects often create a sense of distrust between families of missing and murdered Indigenous people and investigators, according to Gomez.

A major barrier to cooperation is that investigators are usually white and often don’t understand the intricacies of what life is like on a reservation. In Gomez's experience, investigators frequently decline to enter the homes of the victims' families and reject food and drink, which is customary for many Native American families to offer.

Gomez, who has worked with 25 families on cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women since 2000, said she helped the Yazzie family and law enforcement put their concerns and differences aside to earnestly manage the investigation. After an initial meeting with a U.S. attorney and an FBI agent, “it moved from everybody being on pins and needles to an open relationship,” she said.

“To me, this marks a huge milestone in my career. I’ve been able to work with the families to teach them how to be their own voice,” Gomez said. “Jamie Yazzie’s was the first family that I’ve ever worked with that has had the ability to meet with the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

But Gomez’s success came at a price.

The trial was moved in early September because the judge viewed a growing group of activists outside the courthouse as "protestors." In reality, the people were bringing attention to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) movement.

Moving the trial to Phoenix put financial strain on the family, who needed lodging and transportation. The U.S. Department of Justice only reimburses the expenses of immediate family members, and Gomez and the Yazzie family felt that having only immediate family present at the trial would not be enough.

“When you have people like the Yazzies who are living below or at the poverty line, how are they gonna pay for hotel rooms that are close to $200 a night?” Gomez asked.

Fourteen of Yazzie’s family members also needed formal clothing for the three-week trial. And many took time off without being paid or used vacation time.

“I know why a lot of (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives) victims or major crimes victims don’t show up for court — because you virtually have to be high middle class to pay for it,” Gomez said.

In addition to helping the family overcome financial barriers, Gomez helped them understand the customs and procedures of a formal federal trial. In an effort that highlighted how culturally alienated Native Americans are from the U.S. justice system, the Yazzies had to learn when to sit down and stand up, whether they could look at the jury and judge, and when they could show emotion. They took steps to ensure the all-white jury would not be offended by their conduct, a kind of behavioral gymnastics Native Americans commonly feel necessary to perform when interacting with white people.

But in the end, Gomez said having the family at the courthouse would make an impact on the jury. Rarely do such cases make it to trial, and even if they do, they often fade into oblivion.

“For all these years, victims have been invisible. Even after this trial, we still are invisible,” Gomez said. “But luckily for this case, we were visible, and they listened to us and they saw that on any given day there were 10 people in that courtroom.”

Indigenous women face higher rates of violence

Violence against Native Americans, especially women and nonbinary people often called "two-spirits," is remarkably high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, murder is a leading cause of death for Native Americans, especially women. Indigenous girls and women also are three times more likely to be murdered than white women.

The staggering statistics led President Joe Biden to sign an executive order in 2021 aimed at "improving public safety and criminal justice for Native Americans and addressing the issues of missing or murdered indigenous people." The order kicked off a national movement to hold the American justice system accountable for addressing the epidemic of murders and disappearances.

Two years later, Gov. Katie Hobbs established the first MMIP task force in Arizona.

“The establishment of this task force is just the first of many steps to stop the abuse, exploitation and violence against Indigenous peoples,” Hobbs said in a press release. “The recommendations made by this task force must be turned into meaningful reforms with pathways to justice for the missing and murdered.”

The first meeting of an Arizona task force took place in May.

While James’ conviction and Hobbs’ task force are major victories for MMIWR advocates, stopping violence against Indigenous people and getting justice for those taken from their loved ones is an overwhelming responsibility.

Gomez said officials could learn from the successful prosecution of this trial, but she wished more of them attended the trial, including Navajo Nation police officers and criminal investigators.

“This was a monumental day for this family, and nobody came. Nobody came and sat through the trial,” she said.

In Arizona, there have been at least 160 known homicides of Indigenous women from 1976 to 2018.

Additional reporting by O'Hara Shipe.