A brutal case that haunted the Yakama Nation for years has officially closed, with federal prosecutors announcing that a seven-year investigation into the killings of two Indigenous women ended last Monday in prison sentences for seven people. The victims, Rosenda Strong and Jedidah Iesha Moreno, were last seen in October 2018, and their families spent years pushing authorities for answers and accountability. Prosecutors say the most recent sentencing hearings mark the last court actions in a sprawling case that drew in tribal and federal investigators from across the region.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, investigators concluded that Moreno was involved in the shooting of Strong during an argument at a Wapato residence known locally as the “House of Souls,” and that Moreno’s remains were recovered in late 2018. Human remains later found in a freezer on the Yakama Nation in July 2019 were identified through dental records as Strong, the agency said. Federal officials noted that hundreds of interviews and multiple search warrants over several years eventually produced the indictments and guilty pleas that led up to this month’s sentencing hearings.
The Rosenda Strong/Jedidah Iesha Moreno murder cases have concluded. https://x.com/i/status/2041275043758379217
— FBI Seattle (@FBISeattle) April 6, 2026
How the killings unfolded
Witness accounts and court filings describe a grim sequence that began in early October 2018, when Moreno shot Strong and then turned to others for help covering up the crime, according to reporting by The Spokesman-Review. Co-defendants placed Strong’s body in a freezer that was later dumped and ultimately discovered the following year. The outlet reported, citing the indictment, that juveniles as well as adult co-conspirators helped move and rebury remains and, in some instances, fired additional shots into bodies that were already lifeless. Those actions, once investigators connected the various scenes, fueled the federal charges that followed. Throughout the case, Strong’s family kept the pressure on, organizing vigils and appearing in court to demand justice.
Sentences handed down
The U.S. Attorney's Office said Chief U.S. District Judge Stanley A. Bastian imposed prison terms ranging from just over two years to more than 24 years. The sentences were: Kevin Todd Brehm - 70 months; Uriel Balentine Badillo - 292 months for kidnapping resulting in death; Wilson Louis Hunt - 84 months; Andrew Norris Zack - 43 months; Jamaal Antwan Pimms - 26 months; Joshawa Max Estrada - 100 months; and Michael Lee Moody - 87 months. Most of the defendants will also serve terms of federal supervised release after they leave prison. Prosecutors said the outcomes offer at least some measure of closure to the families of Strong and Moreno.
Local reaction and next steps
Family members, including Rosenda’s sister Cissy Strong, sat through hearings and kept public attention on the case, The Spokesman-Review reported. Advocates say the prosecutions underscore the wider crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women in the Yakima Valley and the ongoing need for tight coordination among tribal, federal and local law enforcement. In a post on X, FBI Seattle wrote, "We do not forget. We do not give up. And we will hold violent offenders accountable, no matter how long it takes," highlighting the years-long, multiagency push that ultimately led to the indictments and sentences.
