ANETH, San Juan County — One man is dead and another has been arrested following a fatal shooting on the Navajo Nation.
Chevel Cottonwood, 34, was taken into federal custody on Tuesday and charged in federal court with murder in the second degree while within Indian Country, and being a felon in possession of a gun and ammunition, according to a spokeswoman for the FBI's Salt Lake office.
The Navajo Police Department "received a call reporting gunfire near the Hovenweep area north of Aneth" just before 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Officers were directed by a woman to a second location where they found Winston Billie's body and a woman claiming to be his girlfriend, according to a pair of federal search warrant affidavits.
The woman "explained that she was trying to sleep when she heard two gunshots from the living room at approximately 4 a.m.," according to the warrant. "She stated that Mr. Billie then came into her room and told her he did not know why Chevel Cottonwood was acting the way he was. Mr. Billie then went back to the living room and started arguing with Chevel Cottonwood.
"Thereafter, (the woman) says she heard another gunshot and saw the flash of the discharge. She then went to the living room and saw Mr. Billie lying on the floor bleeding from an apparent gunshot wound," the warrant states.
Using a drone, agents found Cottonwood hiding nearby in some bushes, according to the affidavit.
This story may be updated.
