NEWS
Bloomfield man charged with murder after stabbing on Navajo Nation
18-year-old allegedly killed man with a kitchen knife during an argument, telling police he felt threatened
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A Bloomfield man has been accused of fatally stabbing another man with a kitchen knife during an argument.
Seviano Kee, 18, is charged with one count of murder in the death of the man, who was identified only as John Doe in court documents. Kee faces life in prison if convicted, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a Tuesday news release.
On May 20, FBI agents were dispatched to a house near Bloomfield 鈥� within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation 鈥� after receiving a report that a stabbing had occurred, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.
Navajo police responded to the scene just before midnight and saw family members attempting CPR on an unidentified man, the complaint states.
Witnesses told officers they heard two men arguing outside and attempted to separate them, according to the complaint. A witness told police he saw what he believed to be a punch toward the unidentified man before he fell to the ground.
The witness told officers he noticed a kitchen knife protruding from the man's left side and said Kee ran, the complaint states. Navajo officers located Kee in an abandoned barn and detained him.
In an interview, Kee told police he and the man had gotten into an argument earlier in the day, during which the man grabbed Kee by the neck and threw him to the ground before he walked to a friend's house, according to the complaint.
Kee told officers that after the man left, he began receiving threatening texts from the man on Instagram and said he put a kitchen knife in his pocket because he believed the man would beat him up, the complaint states.
Kee told police he wanted to "make peace" with the man and went to the friend's house to find him, according to the complaint. He said the two got into another argument and the man was not listening to him, which is why he "poked" him with the knife.
Kee told officers that he did not want to stab him but said he was threatened and felt like he had no other choice, the complaint states. Kee said that at no point did the man ever hit him and that the man did not have any weapons with him during the altercation.
Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.
