Tom Begaye (pictured) of Waterflow, N.M. Begaye, pleaded guilty to murder and sexual assault in the death of 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike in August
A man accused of raping and killing an 11-year-old girl on the Navajo Nation last year was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility parole on Friday as part of a plea deal.
Tom Begaye was handed down the sentence at the U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the rape and murder Ashlynne Mike in May 2016.
Authorities say Begaye lured Mike and her brother into his van before killing the girl and allowing the boy to escape.
The brother notified police but an Amber Alert didn’t go out until the next day.
Her body was later found in an area near the Arizona-New Mexico border.
The death led to pending legislation that would expand Amber Alerts into the Navajo Nation and other tribal lands.
Following the verdict, Ashlynne’s mother Pamela Foster called Begaye a ‘monster’ who stole her child.
‘I have tried to get up each day on a positive note, and this is not possible because I still miss my sweet baby,’ Foster said.
A man accused of raping and killing an 11-year-old Ashlynne Mike (pictured) was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility parole
Pamela Foster, foreground, and Gary Mike, center background, parents of Ashlynne Mike Friday, Oct. 20, 2017
Begaye pleaded guilty in August, telling prosecutors that he hit the child in the head with the crowbar twice after sexually assaulting her.
Ashlynne’s father, Gary Mike, said that the verdict has brought closure to the case and justice for his daughter.
‘We all know that this person is guilty,’ he said. ‘He finally admitted it today.’
Under the plea agreement, Begaye faced a mandatory life sentence without parole.
Navajo Nation president Russell Begaye says he told prosecutors that the tribe would have supported the death penalty for the convicted killer. Russell and Tom Begaye are not related.
Navajo Nation president says he would have supported the death penalty for Begaye
‘This particular case I was surprised, actually,’ Russell Begaye said. ‘I was thinking the U.S. attorney general would say yeah, this one deserves the death penalty.’
Tribes for decades including the Navajo Nation have almost always rejected the death penalty aside from cases where children and police officers are victims.
A defense lawyer Begaye said at his client’s sentencing hearing that his client is intellectually disabled and was regularly beaten as a child.
Lawyer James Loonam said Friday that Tom Begaye did not offer that information as an excuse for Begaye’s actions but as insight.
Begaye did not speak during Friday’s hearing.