Native American receives federal death sentence U

Native American receives federal death sentence U.S. District Court in Phoenix said Tuesday that Lezmond Mitchell should be put to death. Mitchell, 21, was found guilty May 8 of committing a double murder in 2001 that involved carjacking and kidnapping. His bloody crime spree crossed state lines from Gallup into the Arizona side of the Navajo Nation. Mitchell, a Navajo, would become the 1st American Indian on federal death row since the U.S. government reinstated the death penalty in 1994. Sentencing by Judge Mary H. Murguia will be on Aug. 4. Te carjacking combined with a double murder and the interstate aspect of the crimes that invoked the death penalty provision. Once a carjacking linked to murder crosses state lines, it doesn't matter if the crime occurred on a reservation or not the death penalty can be applied. The Navajo Nation did not become involved in the case to plead for leniency. Mitchell was convicted of the brutal slayings of Alyce R. Slim, 63, and her 9-year-old granddaughter, Tiffany Lee, on Oct. 28, 2001.