Emery R. Yazzie, 33, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation from Ramah and a Pine Hill High School attendee, was fatally shot on the morning of December 22, 2023, in Pinehill, New Mexico. He collected rapper jerseys and team caps and wrote rap lyrics. The violence took place inside the family home when his older brother, 37-year-old Ellery Brent Yazzie, came downstairs with a holstered firearm and, after a verbal argument, threatened family members. Ellery opened fire, fatally shooting their father, Elmer Begay Yazzie, and Emery, and shooting their sister about six times and their mother as she tried to crawl to safety; both women survived with serious injuries. Ellery then went upstairs for another firearm and additional ammunition before returning and shooting himself.

Officers from the Ramah Navajo Police Department found Emery and his father deceased and Ellery alive with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The FBI’s Gallup Resident Agency assisted the Ramah Navajo Police Department in the investigation. If anyone has information about the family or the events that morning, please come forward to assist ongoing inquiries.