Tohatchi Man Pleads Guilty to Assault Charges in Indian Country

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, announced today that Eric Chandler Watson plead guilty to one count each of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury in Indian Country. Watson, 22, of Tohatchi, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, will remain on conditions of release pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.

According to court records, on the morning of December. 9, 2022, Watson confronted a family member outside of a shared residence in Tohatchi, New Mexico. The confrontation escalated to a physical altercation, at which time Watson’s uncle, John Doe, stepped in to stop the fight. Watson and John Doe began to fight instead, and John Doe’s parents stepped in to stop that fight. John Doe then went inside of the residence to Watson’s bedroom with the intent of destroying Watson’s PlayStation Video Game Console. Watson came up behind John Doe and repeatedly stabbed him in the back.

John Doe experienced a collapsed lung sustained from the stab wounds. John Doe also sustained other stab wounds to the upper back and neck area, with one stab wound inches away from his spinal cord.

At sentencing, Watson faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Navajo Police Department and the Navajo Department of Criminal Investigation investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Mark Probasco is prosecuting the case.

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