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Man pleads guilty to fatally shooting father, brother
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A McKinley County man who admitted to fatally shooting his father and brother pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to two counts of second-degree murder, court records show.
Ellery Brent Yazzie, 37, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, faces up to 30 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a written statement.
Yazzie entered the plea Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven C. Yarbrough. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.
Yazzie admitted in his plea agreement that he shot and killed his father and brother on Dec. 22 at the family’s home in Pinehill, about 50 miles west of Grants.
The shootings occurred in the morning after Yazzie entered the family kitchen and drew a handgun from his waistband, Yazzie said in the plea agreement. He first pointed the gun at his sister and threatened to shoot her and others in the family. He then shot and killed his father and brother.
Yazzie then shot his sister six times in the abdomen, causing life-threatening injuries, he admitted in the plea agreement.
“Then I fired shots at my mother ... who was crawling on the kitchen floor trying to escape,” Yazzie said in the plea agreement.
“Following the shootings, Yazzie went upstairs to retrieve another firearm and more ammunition before returning downstairs and shooting himself,” the statement said.
Yazzie was transported to University of New Mexico Hospital and survived his injuries.
