HARRAH -- In search of closure, Connie Rocha on Monday stood near where her cousin Daniel Simmons was beaten to death the night before by three men.
"I just came out here just to see if I could find something," she said standing along Harrah Road. "He was my family. When you lose something you always want to find something -- maybe just some way to release."
Deputies on Monday arrested three men they believe responsible.
Simmons, a 42-year old Quinault tribal member, was the latest victim in a recent spike of violent crimes on the Yakama reservation that has both residents and authorities concerned.
On Monday, Simmons' girlfriend, Colleen Jaramillo, stood outside a mobile home on a dusty lot near where she lives and where the incident occurred in the 5500 block of Harrah Road.
She said Simmons would often stay days at a time and do yard work.
On Sunday evening, three men who had past run-ins with Simmons came to the property, said Simmons' friend, Angelo Weston.
Simmons, who had been drinking, grabbed a baseball bat and went after them, said Weston.
There was a brief struggle before the men took the bat from him and began hitting him with it, he said.
One of the three men had a shovel and struck Simmons with it as well, said Weston, whose eyes moistened as he described the beating and how he helped pull his bloodied friend from the street.
Describing the incident as gang-related, Jaramillo said she was taking a shower when it began.
"I got out; they said he was getting beat up," she said. "He was just laying there. They hit him with a shovel in the head."
Weston said the same group of men sent Simmons to the hospital with broken ribs just a few week ago.
"Yesterday they took it too far and killed my friend," he said somberly. "I've known him for a long time -- that's messed up."
Rocha said her parents raised Simmons in Harrah, and that they were more like brother and sister. She said he has several children, but wasn't sure of the exact number.
"Daniel, you know, lived a hard life, but I think the Lord had a better plan for him," she said.
The death was the latest in a string of violent crimes on the reservation this year.
On June 7, three men were hospitalized in a shooting at a house party on Brownstown Road just west of Harrah.
Two other men were hospitalized in a March 18 shooting in a yard on Osbourne Road just west of Wapato.
And just days prior to that, a man was found killed at the basketball court of the tribal housing project at Larena Lane in Wapato.
Three of the four cases are being investigated by the FBI, which has jurisdiction over serious crimes on Indian land. But little information about the status of the investigations or nature of the cases has been released, including the names of the victims in most cases.
FBI agent Frank Harrill in Spokane said Monday that progress is being made in those cases.
"What I don't want to do is comment on the individual cases because they are ongoing," he said. "If we need assistance from the public, we'll be the first to ask."
He disputed long-standing skepticism of some tribal members who question whether federal authorities are fully committed to solving crimes on Indian land.
"They are a priority, especially violent ones like that one," said Harrill, who agreed there's been an uptick in crime of the Yakama reservation.
Simmons' case, however, is being investigated by the Yakima County Sheriff's Office because it occurred in the middle of the road and off tribal land.
An autopsy scheduled on Wednesday.
