James Yazzie crossed the American Southwest putting up posters with his daughter’s face on them. Despite his old age and medical challenges — he was on dialysis and many of his organs were shutting down, according to the family attorney — he sat at gas stations trying to spread the word to truckers about his beloved daughter.
He never found her, but the Yazzie family did find justice. In 2022, Tre James was arrested and charged with Yazzie’s murder. A year ago, a federal jury found Tre James guilty. Months later, in November 2023, James Yazzie died at 58.
But Monday, as Tre James was sentenced to life in prison for Yazzie’s murder, the elder Yazzie was very much present in the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix. In a victim statement video, filmed while in hospice care and played on the courtroom’s screens, James Yazzie addressed the judge while about 45 of his and his daughter’s family members collectively held back sobs.
“It hits me right in the heart,” the elder Yazzie said, speaking slowly and with difficulty. “I’m not just saying (that) because she’s my daughter. She was a really nice person.”
Members of the Yazzie family traveled from across the Navajo Nation and Northern Arizona to see the 31-year-old Tre James be handed a life sentence. James was also given an additional 10 years for his use of a firearm in the killing.
After five years of agony, the family exited the courthouse relieved and celebratory, cheering and dancing to the music of a drum circle. They were joined by Tara Petito and Jim Schmidt, who have worked to bring attention to unsolved murders of Indigenous people since the headline-grabbing killing of their stepdaughter, Gaby Petito, in 2021.
“I’m so happy that we did get justice for my baby, Jamie,” said Ethelene Denny, Yazzie’s mother.
Yazzie’s remains were found in February 2022 on the Hopi Reservation, only miles south of Pinon, where both Yazzie and her killer lived. The case garnered attention from activists bringing light to a crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people, especially women, in the United States.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Indigenous women are murdered at rates that are more than 10 times the national average. The Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates there are about 4,200 Indigenous missing and murdered cases nationwide that have not been solved. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, murder is a leading cause of death for Native Americans, especially women.
But murders on Native American reservations rarely result in convictions, making Yazzie’s case an outlier and beacon of hope for Indigenous communities left emotionally devastated by violence against women.
“For the families out there: Yeah, it’ll take years. But don’t stop fighting,” said Leona Yazzie, Jamie’s sister.
‘A huge milestone’
The FBI investigated Yazzie’s disappearance and, ultimately, her murder.“Today’s sentence underscores the fact that Jamie Yazzie was not forgotten by the FBI or our federal and tribal partners,” FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Jose A. Perez said in a press release. “Our office is committed to addressing the violence that Native American communities in Arizona face every day, and we will continue our efforts to protect families, help victims and ensure that justice is served in each case we pursue.”
Darlene Gomez, the lawyer who assisted the Yazzie family, has worked with 27 families of missing and murdered Indigenous people. In October 2023, she told Phoenix New Times that the investigation into Yazzie’s death was the first in her experience that wasn’t marred by cultural misunderstandings.
“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 in 2023. “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.”
Still, Gomez said Monday that the grassroots organizing was critical to ensuring law enforcement and prosecutors kept on the case.
“This journey has been incredibly hard emotionally, fighting a judicial system where there is not justice for Native Americans,” Gomez said. “We don’t have the same rights, don’t have the same law enforcement to look into our cases. We have to do our investigation. We have to hold law enforcement and our leaders — whether they’re tribal, state or federal — we have to hold them accountable.”
The process was excruciating at times. Gomez said James initially was offered a plea deal, which disturbed the family. But he declined it, opted for a jury trial and was found guilty. James was scheduled to be sentenced in January, but that date was pushed back at least four times at his attorney’s request. As they waited for the justice system to finally provide some closure, Yazzie’s family became despondent. Travel plans to Phoenix were repeatedly made, canceled and rescheduled.
“To have the family prepare to come in from New Mexico and Arizona and have the hotel paid for,” Gomez said, “and then it gets canceled. It’s just this ongoing trauma that the family has to face.”
But on Monday, there was no rescheduling. After five years of waiting for it, the Yazzie family saw justice served. As they stepped out of the courthouse into 100-degree heat, they wore proud smiles and raised their fists in triumph, ready to head back north.
