A Shiprock woman was indicted May 24 by a federal grand jury on a second-degree murder charge in the 2022 killing of a child.

Maylene John reportedly stabbed her 7-year-old daughter in the chest, killing the child on Oct. 24, 2022, at a Shiprock home.

“John claimed not to know what precipitated the stabbing and that she ‘blacked out’ after the incident,” according to court records.

The killing was investigated by the Farmington Agency of the FBI and the Navajo Police Department. John was arrested and is being held in federal custody pending a trial, which has not been scheduled.

If convicted, Johnson faces up to life in prison, according to federal law.