Ojo Amarillo Woman Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Using a Firearm During an Assault
King Prosecuted as Part of Federal Initiative to Address the Epidemic Incidence of Violence Against Native Women

ALBUQUERQUE—Perfinna King, 34, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation who resides in Ojo Amarillo, New Mexico, was sentenced this morning to six years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for using a firearm during a crime of violence. The sentence was announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Steven C. Yarbrough, Special Agent in Charge Carol K.O. Lee of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI, and Director John Billison of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety.

King was arrested in April 2012 based on a criminal complaint charging her with assaulting her domestic partner, another Navajo woman, with a knife and a pistol on April 6, 2012. King subsequently was indicted and charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. Prosecution of this case was delayed by competency proceedings.

Court filing reflect that, in the early hours of April 6, 2012, King had an argument with the victim during which King stabbed the victim in the leg in a residence located in the Navajo Indian Reservation. Although the victim tried to get away from King by hiding in a bathroom, King dragged the victim out of the bathroom and stabbed her again. Thereafter, King shot the victim in the leg as the victim ran out of the residence in an effort to get away from King. The victim was treated for multiple stab wounds and a gunshot wound on her leg.

On November 13, 2013, King entered a guilty plea to count three of the indictment and admitted using a firearm during an assault she committed on April 6, 2012.

This case was investigated by the Farmington Resident Agency of the FBI and the Shiprock Office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Presiliano A. Torrez. 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.