Navajo Man Sentenced to Sixty-Three Months in Federal Prison for Assaulting a Kewa Pueblo Woman and Abusing two Children on Nambe Pueblo

ALBUQUERQUE – Everett D. Williams, 26, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Nambe Pueblo, N.M., was sentenced today to 63 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his conviction on assault and child abuse charges.

Williams was arrested in March 2013, based on a criminal complaint charging him with assaulting his intimate partner with a hammer and causing her to sustain serious bodily injury.  In April 2013, Williams was indicted and charged with one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, one count assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of child abuse.  According to court filings, Williams assaulted the victim, a Kewa Pueblo woman, and endangered the health of two toddlers on Feb. 23, 2013, in a residence located on Nambe Pueblo.

On July 3, 2013, Williams entered a guilty plea to all four counts of the indictment and admitted to striking the victim in the head with a hammer and causing her serious bodily injury.  Court filings indicate that the victim required surgery to treat a gaping wound on her forehead.  While swinging the hammer at the victim, Williams missed the victim and instead struck a three-year-old child in the back.  While attempting to hit the victim with his fist, Williams struck a two-year-old child above the eye.

This case was investigated by the Northern Pueblos Agency of the BIA’s Office of Justice Services and was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Adams.   The case was brought pursuant to the Tribal Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (Tribal SAUSA) Pilot Project which is sponsored by the Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women, and seeks to train tribal prosecutors in federal law, procedure and investigative techniques to increase the likelihood that every viable violent offense against Native women is prosecuted in either federal court or tribal court, or both.  The Tribal SAUSA Pilot Project was largely driven by input gathered from annual tribal consultations on violence against women, and is another step in the Justice Department's on-going efforts to increase engagement, coordination and action on public safety in tribal communities.