Body found dead in cooler

FBI officials exit a shed Thursday while investigating a homicide scene where five-year-old Alberto Johnny James was found dead in an ice chest Wednesday afternoon. Police responded to a reported suicide attempt Wednesday and found a women that reportedly told police that "she'd done something wrong" and was going to stab herself with a knife. Further investigation led to police to the body. Evelyn James was arrested for the death of the boy. [Photo by Daniel Zollinger/Independent]

By Leslie Wood
Staff writer

GALLUP — FBI agents converged on the remote area west of Gallup Thursday to investigate the death of a young child. They spent the day gathering evidence from a Mentmore shed where a 5-year-old child’s remains were discovered stored in a portable ice chest.

Children’s toys — a basketball and overturned trampoline — were scattered throughout the yard surrounding the dilapidated shed, which was the center of the investigation. A family dog stood guard, a few feet from the shed where agents gathered to discuss the case.

Meanwhile, a woman remains in custody in connection with the gruesome discovery.

Evelyn James, 48, was charged with criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of a minor in the Navajo Nation District Court in connection with the death of 5-year-old Alberto Johnny James, according to a criminal complaint filed in Tribal Court. The relationship between the pair was not immediately confirmed.

“Defendant knowingly caused a person namely Alberto Johnny James ... to be placed into a blue ice chest, which was wrapped with a black plastic bag. The ice chest was found in a small shack outside the residence. Defendant failed to maintain reasonable care and treatment resulting in the child’s death,” the complaint reads.

The child was inside the ice chest for an unknown amount of time prior to his discovery. A cause of death has not been released.

Lt. Francine Bradley, of the Navajo Nation’s Crownpoint Police District, said she will release little about the homicide to the public because of the involved families’ wishes.

“They’re in shock about what happened,” Bradley said of the family members.

She did confirm that a 5-year-old child’s remains were discovered in a shed at rural address, 6A Saltwater Wash Rd., on Wednesday afternoon.

Sgt. Albert Benally, of the McKinley County Sheriff’s Department, said the agency’s deputies initially responded to a report of a suicide attempt at the location between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., Wednesday.

A woman reportedly threatened to kill herself with a knife because “she’d done something wrong.” When officers arrived at the scene, they found the child in a nearby shed.

Deputies secured the scene until FBI and tribal authorities arrived at the residence to take over the investigation, Benally said.

Agents who were at the residence on Thursday morning refused to comment about the situation and referred questions to FBI spokesman Bill Elwell. Elwell did not immediately return multiple requests for comment from The Independent as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

Family members at the scene asked the Independent to leave the property and made no comment about the child’s death. The grieving family gathered at the Saltwater Wash Road address while FBI agents combed the area for evidence related to the case.

Agents searched the family shed and surrounding landscape for relevant clues as family members entered in and out of a nearby residence. No yellow police tape defined the crime scene’s perimeter Thursday.

According to McKinley County District Court records, James has no significant criminal history. A motive for the killing is not known.