Navajo freshman's killing stuns UA Indian students [University of Arizona murder]

MSNBC ^ | 06 September 2007 | Levi J. Long

[Lorianne]

Tucson, AZ - The Navajo believe that dawn is the most sacred time of the day. But as daylight broke across the University of Arizona campus, tragedy struck one Navajo student.

Mia Henderson, 18, a UA freshman from the Navajo Reservation, was killed in an apparent stabbing, police said. UA police arrested her roommate, Galareka Harrison, also 18 and from the Navajo Reservation, and said she would be jailed on suspicion of first-degree murder.

Henderson's death shocked the tight-knit American Indian student population at the UA.

[Cowboy Bob]

This is part of the Navajo culture. Why should we, as non-Navajo people, pass judgment? /sarc

[ansel12]

This is the guy with all the information, including links to all their personal sites, and photos.

http://dave-lucas.blogspot.com/2007/09/mia-henderson-murder-mystery.html

[ansel12]

Go through their web sites, this appears to have something to do with one or more lesbians.

[ansel12]

“”””The act of killing another human being goes against very basic tribal beliefs, said Waylon Begay, a Navajo and doctoral student in the UA’s American Indian Studies department, who teaches a class about Indian traditions and beliefs.

“We’re taught to respect every living thing to keep in harmony and balance,” he said. “It disrupts the universe, it disrupts ourselves. And there are consequences for that.” “”””

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Five years ago, the number of murders on the Navajo Nation began to slowly decrease, with each passing year having five to seven less than the previous year.

It was a brief sigh of relief for law enforcement officials and tribal leaders alike, who were happy to see that progress was being made. But that feeling of ease is now a memory.

Statistics from the Navajo Nation Information and Records Department show that number of murders from 2005 to 2006 jumped from 16 to 30.

Unfortunately, its doesn’t shock law enforcement officials.

Forty percent of all violent crime which occurs on the nation’s reservations happens in the northern half of Arizona, Lodge said. The violent-crime rate on the Navajo Nation is six times the national average, and in some towns, like Tuba City, Kayenta and Chinle, the per capita violent-crime rate is much higher than that.

[I slam Islam]

I am a student at that college...In grad school. Luckily, I don’t hang around with losers of that caliber.

[maine-iac7]

This is part of the Navajo culture. Why should we, as non-Navajo people, pass judgment? /sarc

Not quite sure how to interpret this as /sarc?

[ernie pantuso]

What is your basis for 'sex' as a motive?

The information given out so far doesn't mention sex. Info is that the victim and killer were roommates in a dorm room, the victim reported a theft by the killer, the killer forged a suicide note purportedly by the victim that stated the victim lied about accusing the killer of theft, and the killer repeatedly stabbed the victim while she lay sleeping in their dorm room

[ansel12]

“”What is your basis for ‘sex’ as a motive?””

If you read the entire thread you will see that link in post 3, the girls personal web sites give clues to what happened, which gives a base for speculation.