Sentence Comes After Shots Fired
LAGUNA, N.M. – Audra Lee, 38, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation was sentenced on December 13 to five years and 10 months in prison for assault with a dangerous weapon back in 2020. The sentencing came after years of deliberation and rejected plea deals. The incident took place on the Laguna Pueblo.
According to court documents, on October 23, 2020 Lee was driving on Interstate 40 while heavily intoxicated. She was seen by an off-duty Cibola County Sheriff’s Deputy who is unnamed in court documents, going only by John Doe. The deputy was in full uniform and in a marked police truck.
Witnessing Lee’s erratic and dangerous driving, the unnamed deputy followed her before turning on the lights and sirens of his vehicle to conduct a traffic stop. Lee complied, slowing down before pulling off the side of the road. John Doe, realizing that Lee was intoxicated and in no condition to drive, removed Lee from her vehicle for a sobriety check and returned to his truck to call for on-duty assistance. It was at this point that Lee saw an opportunity to get away. She jumped back into the driver’s seat of her car and sped away. Lee began to travel east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 40.
John Doe continued to pursue Lee, with Lee eventually slowing to a stop and pulling over. As the deputy stepped out of his truck, Lee jumped out of her car with a knife in hand and attempted to slash the unnamed deputy. Pulling his firearm, John Doe ordered Lee to drop the knife and surrender. She did not comply. Instead, Lee took the knife and lunged at John Doe who fired a single shot, striking Lee in the torso.
John Doe immediately began to render medical aid, until emergency medical services could come with an ambulance and take over Lee’s medical care before taking her to the Cibola County Correctional Center.
On December 13, Lee was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison. When she is released, Lee will be subject to three years of supervised release. The FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this crime with assistance from the Cibola County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Spindle prosecuted this case.