CRIME

Shiprock man gets 15-year prison sentence for 2019 fatal stabbing

Defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Oct. 31

Joshua Kellogg
Farmington Daily Times
  • Zachariah Joe, 29, was given the sentence during a Jan. 14 hearing in Albuquerque federal court, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.
  • The defendant murdered a man on the night of Jan. 3, 2019, in a residence west of the Thatsaburger restaurant on U.S. Highway 491.
  • FBI agents arrested Joe on Jan. 5, 2019, in Shiprock along with Navajo crime investigators, according to the Daily Times archives.

FARMINGTON — A Shiprock man has received a 15-year prison sentence for stabbing another man to death in a Shiprock residence.

Zachariah Joe, 29, was given the sentence during a Jan. 14 hearing in Albuquerque federal court, according to a U.S. Department of Justice press release.

The sentencing documents were not entered into the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system until Jan. 28.

Joe previously pleaded guilty to second-degree murder during a Oct. 31 hearing.

The defendant stabbed the male victim to death on the night of Jan. 3, 2019, in a residence west of the Thatsaburger restaurant on U.S. Highway 491.

Joe showed up to the residence intoxicated and was upset after being fired from his job at the Burger King restaurant in Shiprock earlier that day.

Zachariah Joe

He got into a fight with the victim inside the residence then pushed the male victim and a male witness out of the residence.

Joe then armed himself with a kitchen knife, went outside to where the male victim was and stabbed him about 10 times.

The victim had knife wounds in his chest, neck and side, according to the press release.

The male victim with initials B.M.M and with 1986 listed as his birth year had 10 laceration and puncture wounds on his body and later died at Northern Navajo Medical Center.

FBI agents arrested Joe on Jan. 5, 2019, in Shiprock along with Navajo crime investigators, according to the Daily Times archives.

Joshua Kellogg covers breaking news for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com.

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