Navajo Nation woman kills husband, 6-year-old son, police say

NAVAJO NATION, Ariz. (AZFamily/Gray News) — A woman is facing federal murder charges after authorities said she shot her husband and 6-year-old son near their home in the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona.

According to a federal indictment, Navajo police responded to a home Wednesday night after a caller said a man and child were found dead near the town of Kaibito. AZFamily reported the caller also said several cars traveling between that town and Red Lake had been struck by gunfire.

Officers arrived at the scene, joined later by FBI agents. They said they discovered the bodies of a man and a 6-year-old boy, both found shot in the head. Officials said the suspect was identified as 28-year-old Lydia Carol King, who fled before law enforcement arrived.

Agents said they spoke with King’s brother, who said the shooting happened outside their mother’s home. He reportedly told agents King’s husband told her to be careful because the gun she was carrying was loaded. He heard King say she was sorry, followed by several gunshots. He said he and his brother ran into the nearby woods and heard a gunshot go past them.

Early Thursday morning, investigators say King showed up at a hospital in Flagstaff, Arizona. Court documents said she walked up to a hospital employee and told them she had killed two people on the Navajo reservation. Flagstaff police were called to the hospital, where King reportedly told officers the same thing.

According to court documents, King told FBI agents she had wondered if her husband and her brothers were going to harm her, so she decided she would kill them first. She reportedly told agents she shot her husband multiple times in the back before shooting him in the head. Documents said she then admitted to shooting her young son before driving away and shooting at passing vehicles.

King has since been charged with two federal counts of first-degree murder. The Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety is also assisting with the investigation.

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