PUBLIC SAFETY

Teacher, 22, accused of sex with boy, 17

A Cottonwood teacher was arrested Thursday on suspicion of sexual conduct with a minor.

Isabella Bowman, 22, is a teacher at Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary School in Cottonwood, police say.

Bowman was arrested on suspicion of having sexual involvement with a 17-year-old boy, Cottonwood police say.

The boy was not a student at Dr. Daniel Bright and did not attend any schools in the Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District, police say, adding that the relationship appears to have originated outside of any school setting, Sgt. Monica Kuhlt said.

Bowman was placed on administrative leave Thursday pending a full investigation for “alleged possession of marijuana” in addition to the sexualmisconduct allegations, said District Superintendent Steve King, in a letter to parents.

3 sentenced for Navajo Nation gang crimes

Federal authorities say a four-year investigation that resulted in guilty pleas and lengthy prison sentences effectively dismantled a violent gang that operated on the Navajo Nation.

The Red Skin Kingz, or the RSK gang as it was known, were based in Lukachukai, a remote town in northeastern Arizona on the Navajo Reservation, according to the FBI.

Because of that location, most of the gang’s illegal activities occurred far from law enforcement, according to a press release from the FBI. Its activities included drug dealing and murder, the FBI says.

Devan Leonard, 28, and his mother, Lucille Jean Leonard, 48, ran a legitimate business there, but the pair were more focused on cocaine and meth dealings, the FBI says. They were identified as leaders of the gang.

Devan Leonard and Kyle Filbert Gray, 26, another gang leader, “murdered, dismembered, and burned the bodies of three people,” within the span of four days, the FBI said. One of the victim’s girlfriends was forced to watch, the FBI said.

Devan Leonard was sentenced in May to 50 years in prison. Gray was sentenced to 30 years and Lucille Leonard to 10 years.

Dad accused of killing man who menaced girl

A Phoenix father is accused of fatally beating a man who tried to enter his daughter’s bathroom stall at a Phoenix convenience store, officials said.

Melvin Harris, 40, went to pick up his teenage daughter and her two friends at the QT near 19th and Dunlap avenues just after 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 2, according to court records.

Harris was waiting in the parking lot when a man approached and asked for money, records show. Harris complied and the man walked into the store.

When Harris’ daughter and her friends left the store shortly after, they told Harris a man tried to get inside his daughter’s closed and locked stall in the women’s restroom, records show. A security guard escorted the man out of the store.

Police have identified the man as 26-year-old Leon Armstrong.

Records show that when Armstrong left, Harris’ daughter pointed him out to her father.

Witnesses say Harris approached Armstrong and punched him in the face, knocking him down, records show. Armstrong was “moaning” while on the ground, according to witnesses.

While standing over Armstrong, Harris continued to punch him in the face and kick and stomp on him, records show. Following the incident, Harris got into his car and drove home.

Armstrong suffered a broken nose and a severe brain injury that eventually led to his death on Aug. 7.

Harris is charged with second-degree murder.

Not-guilty plea in murder of state trooper

An attorney for the man accused of fatally shooting an Arizona Department of Public Safety trooper and injuring another entered a not-guilty plea on Thursday in Maricopa County Superior Court.

A grand jury indicted 20-year-old Isaac King on charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, three counts of endangerment and resisting arrest.

King was not present for his hearing after refusing to be transported to court from the jail, his defense attorney said. King later “changed his mind,” according to his attorney, but due to time constraints, Commissioner Thomas Kaipio waived King’s appearance.

King is accused of shooting and killing Tyler Edenhofer, a 24-year-old trooper hired in September after serving in the U.S. Navy.