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Man Sentenced to Life In Prison for Murder and Sexual Assault of 11-Year-Old Ashlynne Mike

Austin Cope
A mural on a Shiprock building memorializes Ashylnn Mike, who was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered last year a few miles from the town

A New Mexico man was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for the murder and sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl near Shiprock in 2016. Twenty-eight-year-old Tom Begaye Jr. was sentenced in U.S. District Court as part of a plea bargain. Begaye kidnapped Ashlynne Mike and her brother near Waterflow, but later let the boy go. Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye, who attended the sentencing, said the sheer brutality of the crime makes it difficult to fathom justice in the case.

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Gail Binkly is a career journalist who has worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette and Cortez Journal. She is currently a freelance writer as well as the editor of the Four Corners Free Press, based in Cortez.
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