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SALT LAKE CITY — A San Juan County man who previously pleaded guilty to stealing and crashing a truck with the owner's 5-year-old daughter in the backseat, killing her, was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison.
In May 2022, a woman in White Mesa, San Juan County, put her two children in her truck, started it, and went inside to say goodbye to her sister, according to court documents, when her 8-year-old son ran into the house and said: "Momma, the guys are taking the truck."
FBI investigators said the woman went outside to find two men, Qwana McCook and Augustine Yellow, in her truck with her 5-year-old daughter still inside. The initial complaint says McCook hit the woman and drove off.
Over two hours later, dispatchers received a call — a truck had crashed and rolled over near Cahone Mesa on the Navajo Nation reservation. Responding law enforcement found the child had been ejected and pronounced her dead at the scene, according to the complaint.
Court documents and testimony from Yellow alleged that McCook bought alcohol and began drinking while driving well above the speed limit before crashing the truck.
"McCook's extremely selfish decisions that day will forever impact a family who is left grieving the loss of their young daughter," said FBI Special Agent Shohini Sinha.
McCook, 30, pleaded guilty to robbery and first-degree murder while on the White Mesa Indian Reservation in March 2024. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Robert J. Shelby sentenced him on Wednesday to 15 years imprisonment and five years supervised release. He was also ordered by the court to pay $250,000 in restitution.
McCook's passenger, Yellow, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, an offense charged for not reporting or actively concealing a felony. Yellow is currently awaiting sentencing.
