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SALT LAKE CITY — A Whiterocks woman has been charged with murder in the death of a woman found shot to death on the Uintah-Ouray Reservation last summer.
Zhondee Spring Nephi, 30, was scheduled to make her initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
Nephi is charged in the death of Sukakee Manyhides, 20, of Fort Duchesne, who was found shot to death on Aug. 25 on a road near Whiterocks, a census-designated area home to 350 people.
A two-count indictment was handed down by a grand jury last week accusing Nephi — an enrolled member of the Ute Indian Tribe — of murder in the second degree while within Indian country and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
The murder charge carries a potential sentence of life in prison, while the firearm charge carries a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence, according to Melodie Rydalch, U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman.
Related:
Person of interest in homicide on Uintah reservation arrested
A person of interest in the homicide of a 20-year-old woman on a Uintah reservation was taken into custody Wednesday evening, Federal Bureau of Investigation officials said.The indictment does not include additional details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting.
In the wake of the shooting, the Duchesne County Sheriff's Office also identified Drew Black, 34, as a person of interest. Rydalch confirmed Tuesday that no charges are being filed against Black.
