On a late Saturday night in June 2011, a domestic disturbance call shattered the peace in the small Navajo Nation town of Kaibito, Arizona. Sergeant Darrell Cervandez Curley, a 48-year-old male and a 26-year veteran of the Navajo Division of Public Safety, responded to the scene at a local housing complex where two brothers were engaged in a physical altercation.
Upon arrival, Sergeant Curley, along with another officer, attempted to de-escalate the situation.
As the two brothers resisted arrest, Curley deployed his pepper spray to subdue them. In a sudden and tragic turn of events, the father of the two men, Victor Bigman, opened fire on the officers. Sergeant Curley was struck by the gunfire. Despite being wounded, he was able to return fire. The other officer at the scene was also shot and wounded during the exchange.
Sergeant Curley was airlifted to a hospital in Page, Arizona, for medical treatment. Tragically, he succumbed to his injuries in the early hours of the following morning, June 26, 2011. An autopsy later revealed that while his ballistic vest had stopped two bullets, two others had penetrated his shoulder in an unprotected area, with one causing fatal damage to his lung.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Victor Bigman was arrested and faced federal charges. He was initially charged with first-degree murder. In July 2012, Victor Bigman pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder and was subsequently sentenced to 35 years in federal prison. His two sons, Johnson and Tyson Bigman, were also taken into custody and faced charges under tribal law, including homicide and disorderly conduct.
