A Navajo man was facing the tribe’s criminal justice system after allegedly driving drunk and killing a 3-year-old boy at a Christmas light parade in Kayenta, but U.S. authorities are now stepping in to prosecute him through the District Court of Arizona.
Under Navajo law, Stanley Begay Jr., 67, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and could’ve faced up to a year in prison and a $5,000 fine. That was, until a grand jury in Arizona made an indictment earlier this month.
He was handed three counts — including second-degree murder — stemming from the death of 3-year-old Karson Apodaca. The two-page charging document accuses Begay of doing so “with malice afterthought.”
Begay, who was arrested by the Navajo Police Department last month and already being held inside the Kayenta District of the Navajo Department of Corrections, was taken into federal custody on Tuesday by FBI special agents based in Flagstaff.
The FBI Phoenix Field Office is seeking the public’s help in sharing photos and videos from that fatal incident to be used in the federal case against Begay, who has been assigned a Flagstaff attorney.
If convicted of second-degree murder, Begay could face up to a life sentence — while the pair of “assault resulting in serious bodily injury” charges would carry a maximum punishment of a decade in prison for each count.
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