United States Attorney Cole Finegan | U.S. Department of Justice
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado has announced that Jeremiah Hight, 23, from Towaoc, Colorado, faces federal charges. A grand jury indicted him on one count of second-degree murder of a child in Indian Country and one count of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Hight was initially charged through a criminal complaint authorized by Magistrate Judge James Candelaria on December 19, 2024. He was arrested on December 24, 2024, on the Navajo Reservation and made his first court appearance in the District of Arizona two days later. He is currently being transferred to the District of Colorado.
According to official documents, in the early hours of December 11, 2024, Hight allegedly fired a rifle twenty-four times into a residence. This incident resulted in the death of a seven-year-old member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Towaoc, Colorado, located on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. The investigation remains ongoing.
Authorities emphasize that these charges are allegations at this stage and Hight is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Bureau of Indian Affairs are conducting the investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey K. Graves, R. Josh Player, and Lisa Franceware are prosecuting the case.
Case Number: 25-cr-0003-GPG