Supporters for Jamie Yazzie’s family and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women stand outside the Sandra Day O’Connor Courthouse in Phoenix on Sept. 23, 2024. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror
After five years of fighting for justice, the family of Navajo woman Jamie Lynette Yazzie left a Phoenix courtroom with a sense of relief and joy as the man convicted of her murder was sentenced to life in prison.
“I’m glad we got justice,” Ethelene Denny, Yazzie’s mother, said outside the Sandra Day O’Connor courthouse on Sept. 23. “I’m so happy that we did get justice for my baby, Jamie.”
After hearing victim impact statements from the family and final remarks, U.S. District Judge Douglas F. Rayes sentenced Tre C. James, 31, to life in prison for first-degree murder and an additional 10 years for the discharge of a firearm in the use of violence. These sentences will run consecutively for the death of Yazzie.
“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 statement. “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.”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
In the other counts related to the acts of domestic violence committed against the three other Navajo women he was in a relationship with, Rayes sentenced James to an additional 10 years in prison to run concurrently and five years of supervised release for each of those assaults.
“Jamie was the only victim that did not testify because the defendant killed her,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer E. LaGrange during the sentencing hearing. “Jamie was missing for over two-and-a-half years, and in that time, her family suffered.”
Before issuing a sentence, Rayes addressed James directly, telling him he heard and saw all the evidence during his trial.
“You preyed on victims who loved and trusted you,” he said, noting how he took their affection and used it against them.
“You destroyed not only their lives, but you negatively impacted their family’s lives,” Rayes said, adding that James damaged an entire community with his actions.
Yazzie was a mother of three, a nursing assistant, and her family described her as a caring, loving person who helped people in need. She lived in Pinon, Arizona, on the Navajo Nation and was 31 when she went missing on June 30, 2019.
For 876 days, Yazzie’s family didn’t know where she was. They held walks to raise awareness, paid for billboards, posted flyers and became active advocates in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People movement.
It wasn’t until Nov. 23, 2021, when Yazzie’s family got their first bit of closure when her remains were found in the desert on the Hopi reservation. She was found only seven miles from where she went missing.
James shot and killed Yazzie in Pinon and hid her remains on the Hopi reservation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated. James was arrested in 2022. In September 2023, after a seven-day trial, he was convicted for the first-degree murder of Yazzie and several other acts of domestic violence committed against three former partners.
Multiple agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety Criminal Investigation Services, Navajo Nation Police Department, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Navajo County Sheriff’s Office worked together to investigate Yazzie’s disappearance.
“Securing justice for missing victims of violence necessitates courage, discipline, and collaboration,” United States Attorney for Arizona Gary Restaino said in a statement. “It also requires all of us to demonstrate our commitment with alacrity: for communities to report their missing loved ones as soon as possible; for victim advocates to engage early and often with next of kin; and for agents and prosecutors to charge cases as soon as they are ready to be charged.”
It was an emotional day for Yazzie’s family, but they weren’t without support. Dozens of MMIP and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) supporters gathered at the courthouse on behalf of the family. Most supporters wore red and had a red handprint across their mouths to honor MMIW.
The supporters stayed outside the courthouse throughout the sentencing hearing, holding flags, burning sage and singing to support the family. The family was escorted to the courthouse by the bike riders with Medicine Wheel Ride, a grassroots organization that raises awareness about MMIW nationally through bike rides and advocacy.
The family and supporters filled the courthouse gallery, and many were overcome with tears as details of Yazzie’s case were shared in court again to showcase the severity of the crime. Yazzie’s kids — who are now 18, 14, and 10 — sat with their grandmother and aunts throughout the sentencing.
Yazzie’s mother told the court that she has taken care of her grandkids since her daughter went missing, and they continuously feel the pain of her absence in their daily lives.
Denny said that her grandkids do not like visiting places they once visited with their mother because it is too hard. She said Yazzie’s kids won’t get medical treatment at the local health care facility because that is where their mother worked.
“It’s beginning to set in that the boys will never get to see, hold or go to their mother for love, support, and encouragement,” Denny said, adding that James needs to be held accountable for his actions.
“There is no sentence you can serve that will balance the scale,” she said as she asked the judge to sentence James to life in prison. “It will not heal these wounds we have, but it will ease the pain.”
Jamie Lynette Yazzie’s Aunt Marilene James (left) and Sister Elaina Denny (right) hug outside the Sandra Day O’Connor Courthouse on Sept. 23, 2024, after the man who murdered Yazzie was sentenced to life in prison. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror
Yazzie’s father, James Yazzie, passed away in November 2023 and did not get a chance to see justice carried out for his daughter. However, a video was provided to the court that was recorded before his passing to serve as his victim’s statement on his daughter’s case.
“Taking my daughter away, taking my grandkids’ mom away, it hits you right in the heart to see what they have to go through,” James Yazzie said in the video. “Tre James, you took my precious daughter away from me. I hope that you get the top punishment you deserve.”
Kathy Yazzie, James Yazzie’s sister, told the court how her brother’s health steadily declined when his daughter went missing. She said James put his health concerns on the back burner because he put all his time and energy into looking for his daughter.
“This person not only took Jamie, but he took my brother,” Kathy said. “He made his last days a living hell.”
Kathy said that, when the family heard Jamie went missing, their world stopped, and they had to live through that day after day not knowing what happened to her.
“This person knew,” she said, referring to James. “We’ve gone through something as a family so horrific. This person does not deserve to get out of jail, ever.”
It has been a long journey for the family. It started with Yazzie going missing and the beginning of a constant search to bring her home to the discovery of her remains only miles away from their home and the long wait for justice as Yazzie’s case went through the court system.
“Justice for Jamie! That’s what we’ve been shouting, that’s what we’ve been praying for, and we got it,” Marilene James, Yazzie’s aunt, said. “We got what we wanted, what we fought for and what Jamie deserves.”
Marilene James, who is unrelated to Tre James, said that he put himself in prison the day he took her niece’s life. She has been a significant advocate for her niece since she went missing in 2019.
“He ended his life the day he took my niece’s life,” she added. “Today, we proved that he messed with the wrong family.”
Many of Yazzie’s family members and supporters said that what their family went through is what many victims of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People experience, but they want their story to encourage those families to keep fighting.
“Don’t give up,” James said, encouraging families to contact them if they need help.
“If you need help, there’s resources, there’s people that can stand with you whenever you need help,” she added.
Darlene Gomez, an attorney and advocate for MMIW and MMIP cases, has worked with Jamie Yazzie’s family since 2020. During that time, she has seen the challenges the family constantly faced.
“This journey has been incredibly, incredibly hard,” Gomez said because they have had to constantly go up against a judicial system where there’s no justice for Native Americans.
Gomez said that Indigenous people need to hold law enforcement and leaders accountable, whether tribal, state, or federal, because the federal government has a trust responsibility to protect Tribal Nations.
“For all those other families out there, there can be justice for you,” she said.
Showing support for Jamie Yazzie’s family and raising awareness about domestic violence victims were Jim Schmidt and Tara Petito, the stepparents for Gabby Petito, a 22-year-old woman who was killed by her fiancé in 2021.
Schmidt said that the family showed a lot of strength and courage in the courtroom and that strength and courage will always overcome evil.
“Jamie will be remembered. His name should never be spoken again,” he added.
Petito said that Gabby’s case received a lot of attention, which has given their family the platform to try and help others who don’t receive the same type of attention.
“There are so many gaps in the system,” Petito said, adding that many families are not treated fairly and equally. “Every family that has a loved one that goes missing should be able to walk into the police station and report their loved one missing without judgment.”
SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST.