Navajo Nation man charged for shooting death of man in Southern Utah

MONTEZUMA CREEK, Utah (ABC4) — A Navajo Nation man has been federally indicted for the shooting death of another man in Southern Utah.

Chevel Cottonwood, 34, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, has been federally charged with murder in the second degree while in Indian Country and felony possession of a firearm and ammunition.

According to federal documents, the Navajo Police Department received a call reporting gunfire on June 10, 2025, around 5:36 a.m. The caller told police that a man had been shot by Cottonwood and provided the location.

When officers arrived at the residence in Montezuma Creek, the victim’s girlfriend told police that she was trying to sleep when she heard two gunshots from the living room. After that, she said the victim came into the room and said he “did not know why Chevel Cottonwood was acting the way he was.” He went back into the living room, and a third gunshot was heard.

The victim’s girlfriend saw the flash of the discharge this time and went to the living room. The victim was lying on the floor and bleeding from a gunshot wound. After speaking with the victim’s girlfriend about what happened, police entered the residence.

The victim was found deceased, with “an apparent gunshot wound and an empty shell casing next to him,” according to documents. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was contacted for assistance with the investigation.

A special agent with the FBI used a drone to observe the area and locate Cottonwood hiding in bushes near the residence where the shooting occurred. Documents say he was observed picking up and putting down items where he was hiding. Cottonwood allegedly started going back to the residence.

Officers stopped Cottonwood and detained him, finding a magazine loaded with ammunition on his person. A firearm was located in the bushes where he was hiding. A search warrant served on the residence revealed that two bullets had been fired through the roof during the shooting, and police seized a 9 mm pistol.

In an interview with Cottonwood, he told investigators that the victim had been staying at his residence for a couple of weeks, and the victim’s girlfriend had recently come to spend some time there. Recently, the girlfriend had brought alcohol to the residence.

Cottonwood allegedly stated that he and the victim had gotten into a fight while drinking, and the victim hit him with a flashlight. After this, Cottonwood allegedly felt worried that the victim was going to come after him and retrieved his firearm, thinking that the victim was acting strangely.

Later, when the victim “moved toward him at some point,” Cottonwood shot him. The victim likely couldn’t see what was happening because a flashlight was shining in his face, Cottonwood told investigators. There was nothing in the victim’s hands, either.

After the shooting, Cottonwood stated that he “walked his dog and came back,” at which point he was arrested. According to documents, during this time, he was actually concealing the alleged murder weapon. Due to previous felony charges, Cottonwood was not allowed to possess the 9 mm pistol that was used in the fatal shooting.

Documents say that Cottonwood “left the residence soon after he shot the alleged victim, did not render or even summon aid, and instead hid out in a land area near his home and placed what is believed to be the murder weapon in a bush.”

Cottonwood is set for an initial appearance in a federal courtroom on June 26 at 11 a.m.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah, the case is being investigated jointly by the Navajo Nation Department of Criminal Investigations and the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office’s Monticello Resident Agency.