According to the Huff Post, a Nevada man was found guilty on Thursday for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend, who was an Indigenous woman, and their unborn child in 2020. On Friday, federal prosecutors announced the conviction of Michael Burciaga on charges of first-degree murder, violating the Protection of Unborn Children Act and domestic assault by a habitual offender. He was found guilty of stabbing his girlfriend Amanda Davis, a registered member of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, multiple times, which led to the death of her and her unborn son, whom she planned to name Ezra.
Hundreds of people gathered for a vigil following Davis’ death in December 2020, seeking to bring awareness to missing and murdered Indigenous women and domestic violence.
According to federal investigators’ affidavit, police responded to a call from Davis’ 15-year-old daughter just after midnight on Dec. 15 to report that her mom had been stabbed by her boyfriend inside their home on the Pyramid Lake reservation in Nixon.
When officers and medical personnel arrived, Davis’ three children were taken to the front room of the home, and she was found dead in the primary bedroom.
Shortly after, Burciaga arrived back at the home with cuts on his hands and wrist and told officers, “I know what I did. That’s why I came back.”
According to the affidavit, Burciaga asked officers multiple times about his girlfriend’s condition and told them she was pregnant with his child.
In an interview with police, Davis’ daughter said her 8-year-old brother had awakened her around midnight to tell her that Burciaga had stabbed their mother. The children found their mother still alive in the primary bedroom and barricaded the door with a dresser.
Burciaga soon broke through the top half of the door, and Davis grabbed a baseball bat and began hitting his hand to stop him from entering the room, but he eventually broke through, the affidavit said.
Davis’ daughter attempted to fight off her mother’s attacker with a lamp, but she was unsuccessful, and he continued to stab Davis repeatedly, the affidavit said.
Burciaga is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 25 and faces a minimum sentence of life in prison.
This story and all stories concerning Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe are dedicated to the loving memory of Thomas Flores, gone but never forgotten.
