An Arizona tribal official is charged with killing a single mother of two in a fatal hit-and-run crash on Thanksgiving Day – only to return to the scene as one of the police investigating the incident, authorities said.
Josh Anderson, 49, an officer with the White Mountain Apache Police Department, allegedly joined three other police officers to inform Iris Billy’s parents that she had been killed while walking on State Route 73 around 3:30 a.m.
“It was very disturbing, sickening, and heartless,” Iris’ sister Phylene Burnette told Arizona Family about the officer’s alleged actions.
“Whatever he did to him, he went back to the scene and helped investigate. And he was one of the four officers who came to my parents’ house to break the news to them.
“We expected her to come home that morning,” Burnette said of her 30-year-old sister.
“To find out it was someone in our local police department, the emotions were all over the place. Sad and angry, how?”
He said Anderson, who was booked into the White Mountain Apache Adult Detention Facility on Friday, “needs to remain in jail” and added that Billy leaves behind two sons – Imani, 10, and Kolby, 9.
“They still need it,” Burnette said. “He’s a single parent, he’s everything to them.”
Josh Anderson, 49, is accused of killing Iris Billy, 30, in a hit-and-run Thursday morning. Navajo County Sheriff’s Office authorities allege he struck Billy, who was walking on State Route 73 in Arizona, around 3:30 a.m. and returned to the scene later as one of the police investigating the incident. Google Maps
Tribal police said they quickly realized one of their own officers was the prime suspect in the early-morning crash after Anderson’s patrol vehicle was found with damage “consistent with a collision with a pedestrian.”
Anderson was on duty at the time of the crash, the White Mountain Apache Police Department said in a statement.
“They started noticing that there was a police car there [at the scene] that has some damage to it, but then again, in rural Arizona, our cars sometimes get torn up because officers go into the woods,” Chief Deputy Brian Swanty explained to Arizona Family.
“But as the investigation continues, there are more and more signs that something is not right here.
“Who would have thought that the police car involved is now being revived [the] scene? That’s not normal,” added Swanty.
Iris Billy is a single mother of two sons. Family Distribution
“I can’t imagine that scenario there at all,” he said, noting that informing the next of kin of their relative’s death “is probably one of the worst assignments to be given, let alone knowing you had something to do with it, I can’t imagine that.”
“If he had stopped, given the help that we all had to do, we wouldn’t be talking today,” Swanty said.
Anderson was charged with aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and criminal negligence.
He was also charged with reckless driving, interfering with an officer, vehicular death, and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
Following his arrest Friday, Anderson resigned from the police department where he had served for 20 years.
The case has been turned over to the FBI.
It is unclear whether Anderson has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Iris Billy’s family expected her home on Thanksgiving Day when Anderson and three other police officers told them she had been fatally shot. Family Distribution
“This is a very sad time for the families of the victims, the men and women of the White Mountain Apache Police Department, and the White Mountain Apache Tribe,” the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
“This event was an isolated incident and does not reflect the good police officers who serve and protect the citizens of the White Mountain Apache Reservation every day,” he stressed.
“The White Mountain Apache Police Department acted quickly, transparently and aggressively to find the facts and document the incident.
“Their professionalism and vigilance throughout the investigation resulted in the ability to gather evidence and facts regarding the death of Iris Billy.”
News of Iris Billy’s death devastated the White Mountain Apache community. Family Distribution
Former chairwoman of the White Mountain Apache Tribe Gwendena Lee also wrote on Facebook that the news had devastated the tribal community.
“The tragic and violent death of Iris in our small, close-knit community brings heartache and sadness to us all,” he wrote.
“My prayers and all our prayers go out to Billy’s family,” Lee said. “We feel and extend our deepest sympathies to Billy’s devastated family.
“I had the distinct honor of working with Lorene (mother of Iris) in various capacities at Tribe and at Theodore Roosevelt School as a member of the School Board…,” he added.
“I am very aware that words cannot match the depth of your grief Lorene, nor your husband, children. [and] especially grandchildren who lost their mothers. Those words also cannot heal your wounded heart.”
But, she said, “I hope you know that you are not alone in your grief, that everyone who knew Iris and even those who didn’t, their world has been shattered.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
