An Arizona member of the Navajo Indian Tribe has admitted he severely assaulted his common-law wife last September after she confronted him over his alleged drug addiction.
Levon Willis Barlow, 36, appeared in U.S. District Court on Tuesday to plead guilty to one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury. Barlow admitted in court that he assaulted his partner during an argument on Sept. 5 at Navajo Mountain, Utah, on the Navajo reservation.
According to FBI agents, Barlow and his family traveled from Tuba City, Ariz., to Navajo Mountain to take part in a multi-day ceremony for the couple's 11-year-old daughter.
While visiting family, the victim said she noticed Barlow leaving with his brothers and coming back acting strange. She confronted Barlow over an alleged drug addiction to methamphetamine, which she said had been a strain on their relationship. At that point, agents say, Barlow became enraged and started punching the woman in the face and repeatedly slamming her body to the ground. She broke both of her wrists as she tried to break her fall.
Agents also say Barlow's relatives, including his mother, encouraged him to continue beating the woman until a sister-in-law managed to get Barlow to stop and allow the woman and her two daughters to leave in a car.
Unable to drive with two broken wrists, agents say the woman's 9-year-old daughter sat on her lap to steer the vehicle while the victim worked the pedals to drive to a nearby residence and call for help. She was later hospitalized.
"We got into a fight. I assaulted her and she assaulted me," Barlow said in court.
His attorney, Chelsea Koch, said at one point they considered a self-defense case but later decided such a claim would not stand before a jury.
In exchange for Barlow's plea, federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend leniency when he is sentenced May 31. Barlow faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
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