A federal grand jury has indicted a New Mexico man on assault and carjacking costs in reference to the 2021 disappearance of a Native American lady whose case has helped to boost consciousness about lacking individuals and unsolved slayings in Indian Nation.The indictment naming Preston Henry Tolth, 23, was unsealed Tuesday. He's scheduled to seem …
A federal grand jury has indicted a New Mexico man on assault and carjacking costs in reference to the 2021 disappearance of a Native American lady whose case has helped to boost consciousness about lacking individuals and unsolved slayings in Indian Nation.
The indictment naming Preston Henry Tolth, 23, was unsealed Tuesday. He’s scheduled to seem earlier than a federal Justice of the Peace Friday in northern Arizona for a detention listening to and formal arraignment.
Federal prosecutors alleged that Tolth assaulted Ella Mae Begay, a Navajo lady who was 62 on the time, took her pickup truck and drove it throughout state strains. Begay has not been discovered.
“This indictment is a vital first step in figuring out the reality about what occurred to an aged sufferer on the Navajo Nation,” U.S. Lawyer Gary Restaino of Arizona stated in a press release, stressing that the investigation was ongoing.
Begay’s truck was seen the morning of June 15, 2021, leaving her residence within the distant neighborhood of Sweetwater on the Navajo Nation, not removed from the place Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado meet.
The FBI provided a $5,000 reward for “info resulting in the identification, arrest, and conviction of the individual or individuals liable for the disappearance of Ella Mae Begay.” The FBI stated Begay was driving a grey 2005 Ford F-150 with a damaged tailgate when she went lacking.
A 12 months after Begay disappeared, her niece started strolling from the Navajo Nation to Washington D.C. to convey consideration to a decades-long epidemic of violence that has disproportionately affected Indigenous individuals.
Cedar Attanasio / AP
Lawyer Darlene Gomez, who’s representing Begay’s household, stated in a social media submit that the indictment marked a bittersweet improvement for relations. Gomez stated the household appreciates the prayers and help from those that have adopted Begay’s case and shared her story in hopes of bringing her residence.
The investigation into Begay’s disappearance is a part of the U.S. Division of Justice’s efforts to deal with circumstances involving lacking and slain Native Individuals. Navajo Nation authorities had beforehand recognized Tolth as an individual of curiosity within the case.
Luke Mulligan, a federal public defender for Tolth, declined to touch upon the case Tuesday.
New Mexico court docket information present Tolth has a felony historical past that features costs of aggravated battery, resisting arrest, residential housebreaking and drug possession that date again to 2019. He already was in custody pending the result of a 2022 case during which he was accused of stealing a person’s pockets whereas armed with some type of sharp weapon, court docket information present.
Begay’s relations have met with U.S. Inside Secretary Deb Haaland, who lately joined Justice Division officers in internet hosting the primary in-person session of the Not Invisible Act Fee in Washington. The fee might be holding area hearings throughout the U.S. this 12 months because it develops suggestions for stopping and responding to violence affecting tribal communities.
There are roughly 1,500 American Indian and Alaska Native lacking individuals included within the Nationwide Crime Data Heart Database, in response to the Division of the Inside.
Keep in touch with our news & offers
