Clifton Nez Hamalowa, a 47-year-old member of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, has been handed down a sentence of life imprisonment plus an additional 10 years, as per officials. The sentencing took place this past Tuesday, as decided by United States District Judge John J. Tuchi. This stems from a crime that occurred on August 29, 2020, when Hamalowa fatally shot a man multiple times in the head, tragically, in the presence of the victim's young child, on the Gila River Indian Community reservation.
The brutal act was followed by an attempt to quickly conceal the evidence, a deed in which Hamalowa's siblings were also complicit. They disposed of the victim's car and dumped the body within the remote regions of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian reservation. Compounding their attempts to evade justice, witness intimidation was also part of their strategy, according to details released by the Department of Justice.
After a seven-day trial, a federal jury found Hamalowa guilty of a slew of charges including First-Degree Murder and Conspiracy to Commit Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury. He was also convicted of using a firearm in relation to and during the commission of a violent crime. The defendants' attempts to skirt the law proved to ultimately be in vain.
Accomplice and familial ties did not absolve significant prison terms for Hamalowa's siblings either. His brother, Thomas Leon Hamalowa, will serve 108 months after pleading guilty to being an Accessory-After-the-Fact to Murder, while their sister, Devonne Beth Hamalowa, received a sentence of 84 months in relation to the same charge. These sentencings took place in October 2023 and April 2024, respectively.
The FBI and Gila River Police Department coordinated to investigate the case thoroughly, leading to these sentences. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer E. LaGrange and Travis L. Wheeler of the District of Arizona, Phoenix, took the helm in the prosecution efforts.
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