Teen found dead in dorm
17-year-old Navajo Prep student's death being investigated as suicide

By Brian Hassler
Staff Writer

FARMINGTON — A student at Navajo Preparatory School committed suicide Monday evening.

The unnamed 17-year-old male hung himself in his dorm room at Navajo Prep with his belt and was found after it was realized that he wasn't in study hall with the rest of his group.

Farmington Police Lt. Robert Miller confirmed the incident but was unable to provide further details.

"We aren't at the point that we know why he did it but we are definitely dealing with a suicide," Miller said. "There was no foul play involved."

Other sources said when the student was found to be missing from study hall, the resident assistant went looking for him and found him in his dorm room hanging from his belt around 7 p.m.

The dorm assistant closed the door to ensure no other students were able to look in the room and then contacted the police.

Efforts were made by the Navajo Prep administration to contact parents of students, especially the parents of the suicide victim and the parents of those close to the victim, according to school officials. The victim's girlfriend, roommates and close friends were taken into the cafeteria and told while the remainder of the student body was in the school library.

However, a caller to The Independent on Tuesday who identified himself as a parent of a Navajo Prep student, said he was upset that he was never informed by the school. Instead, he found out about the incident when students were talking about it in an Internet chat room.

Local grief counselor Gordon Nielson was called onto the scene to help the students and faculty and arrived at 9 p.m.

"Nobody knew what to do," Nielson said. "The police were investigating the scene. We tried to figure out what was going on and what would be the best way to support the students. There wasn't much we could do except offer support. Some of the students were freaked out, and the teachers would try to talk to them, but the students were in shock."

Administrators moved students from the library to their dorms, one dorm at a time, and told the students in each dorm what had happened.

"Word got around that he tried to kill himself," said Nielson. "A lot of them assumed that he was taken to the hospital. Then people started to realize that he was dead.

"I was in one of the dorms after the director said what happened. A couple students broke down and were inconsolable. Kids all over the campus were torn up about this and so were some of the teachers."

It has not been indicated if a note was found explaining why the victim chose to commit suicide and repeated calls to Navajo Prep were not returned.

Officials had planned on providing counseling for the entire student body throughout the remainder of the week.

— Brian Hassler is The Independent's Four Corners reporter based in Shiprock. Contact him at (505) 360-7862 or via email at brianhassler@hotmail.com.