St. Michaels man fatally shot by police

A St. Michaels, Ariz., family claims that a tribal police officer had no justification to shoot Brett Williams, 29, killing him outside the family home on Klagetoh Drive.

He is the third person to die at the hands of a Navajo Nation Police officer in the past eight months.

Tribal police have refused to release any information, saying that the matter has been turned over to the FBI for investigation. The FBI also has released no information on the matter, referring questions to the tribal police.

Family members said Wednesday that the incident began about 2:45 a.m. on May 17.

Darlene Williams, the victim's mother, was at home at the time, along with her son's girlfriend, Elvira Yazzie, and Yazzie's two children by Brett Williams, ages 6 and 4, who were asleep on the couch.

She said two of her son's friends were also at the house, drinking liquor with her son.

According to the mother, Yazzie was preparing to leave for her job at Fire Rock Navajo Casino when she and Brett Williams began arguing, first in the house and then as she left to get in the car.

"His two friends went outside trying to get him calmed down," Darlene Williams said.

The attempt failed and her son soon came back into the house and told his mother to leave. Darlene Williams said she then woke up her husband and the two left the building.

"He (Brett) wouldn't let us take the kids," she said.

Her son's two friends had already left the area so Darlene Williams said she and Yazzie decided to go to the Window Rock police for help because they felt the children might be in danger.

When they got to the police station, they were told to see the dispatcher, who informed them that there was a police unit at Basha's "doing transport" and that when it were finished, it would go by the Williams house.

A little later, they talked to a female police officer who suggested they contact Family Services in the morning and get that agency to go after the children, but Williams said both she and Yazzie were apprehensive about leaving the children alone in the house with Brett Williams overnight.

As the two women headed back to the Williams house, they saw a police panel truck with one officer inside headed there. They parked a couple of houses away and went over to the officer to explain the situation to him.

Williams said she didn't know the name of the officer but Yazzie later told her that she saw a nametag with the word "Naswood" on it.

The officer then went up to the house and talked to Brett Williams for about three minutes. Darlene Williams said her son was wearing only boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

The officer returned and told them that Brett Williams had said the house was his.

Darlene Williams said this is incorrect and the house had belonged to his grandmother who died a few years ago without leaving instructions as to who should inherit it.

She said her son had returned to live in the house with his parents about six months ago, after leaving a job as a caterer in Phoenix. He had been out of work since he got back, she said.

The officer then went into the house and came out a few minutes later and began waving his flashlight to indicate she and Yazzie could pick up the kids.

The 6-year-old, Shytalia, came out on her own and Yazzie went in to get the boy, Zethyr.

The officer then went back inside the house and Williams said she heard what sounded like a physical confrontation. She said she learned later that the officer had used pepper spray in an attempt to subdue her son.

A couple of minutes into the confrontation her son and the officer came out of the house fighting, she said. They continued scuffling, moving behind a parked vehicle and out of the two women's line of sight.

"I then heard two loud booms," Williams said.

She went to where the two men were and saw the officer standing over her son's body, pointing a gun at him and yelling at her to stay away.

"The officer then went to his vehicle and got out a bag and put it near the car. I don't know what was in the bag," she said.

Williams said she saw him talking on his shoulder radio and within five minutes, four police units arrived at the scene. An ambulance arrived about half an hour later.

No family member was allowed to go near the body to determine if Brett Williams was alive, his mother said.

She added that Shytalia saw what happened and later said, "My Dad got shot in the chest."

Williams said she has been attempting to get a copy of the police report on the incident but the tribal police have refused to release it.

She did talk to officials at the mortuary that handled the body and was told that her son had two bullet wounds, one a head shot that exited through the left temple and another in the left chest area that did not exit.

The family members were later interviewed by the FBI and the Internal Affairs Unit of the Navajo Nation Police and Williams said she gave them a statement of what she saw and heard. She said she was not asked for her thoughts about the incident.

If she had been, Williams said she would have told investigators the officer should have realized when he first interviewed her son that he would need police backup. Brett Williams was 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighed 285 pounds, a great deal bigger than the officer, according to his mother.

"But (the officer) didn't call for help until it was over," Williams said.

The family is now talking about filing a lawsuit against the police department, she said.

This is the third fatal shooting by a Navajo Nation Police officer in the last eight months. In each case, alcohol was involved and a man died.

On Jan. 12, Arnold Dan Jr., 25, of Shiprock was shot and killed by a tribal police officer following a vehicle chase.

Leroy Henderson, 44, of Sanostee, N.M., was fatally shot Sept. 20, 2008, also after a vehicle pursuit by tribal police.

The families in the earlier two incidents claim the shootings were unjustified and have said they would file lawsuits.

The FBI was asked to investigate both of the earlier shootings but has not released any information about either case since then.

Williams said the family is talking about getting counseling for Shytalia Williams.

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