On May 6, 2016, posters with Ashlynne Mike’s photo lined the entrance to the Farmington Civic Center as the overflow crowd watched monitors streaming her memorial service. More than a year after authorities said the 11-year-old girl was kidnapped and murdered in a remote part of the largest American Indian reservation, the man charged in her death is scheduled to attend a change-of-plea hearing Tuesday. He has previously pleaded not guilty.
More than a year after authorities said an 11-year-old girl was kidnapped and murdered in a remote part of the largest American Indian reservation, Tom Begaye of Waterflow, N.M., who is charged in her death, is scheduled to attend a change-of-plea hearing Tuesday. He has previously pleaded not guilty.
ALBUQUERQUE – A man charged in the death of an 11-year-old girl in a remote part of the largest American Indian reservation is headed to federal court.
Tom Begaye is scheduled Tuesday to attend a change-of-plea hearing in federal court. But it is not known if his lawyers and federal prosecutors have struck a deal. Begaye previously pleaded not guilty to murder, sexual abuse and other charges.
Begaye is accused of luring Ashlynne Mike into his van in May 2016. Mike was reported missing, but an Amber Alert didn’t go out until the next day.
She was later found in an area near the Arizona-New Mexico border.
Her death prompted federal legislation that would expand the Amber Alert system to tribal communities.
