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New details released by the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office offered context for the additional charges, including first-degree murder, against Loreen Brodie Bell in connection to the February 2023 death of Sharon Nocki Yazzie.

Originally charged in May of 2023 with three counts, including tampering with evidence and making false statements to police, Bell pleaded guilty to just one of her original charges -- abandonment or concealment of a dead body -- in December 2023. Sentenced to 14 months in prison by Coconino County Superior Court Senior Commissioner Dan Slayton a month later, Bell had effectively served more than half of her sentence with credit for 245 days in custody.

Nearly seven months later, and eight days after Scott Richard Smith pleaded guilty to the same charge of abandonment or concealment of a dead body for his involvement in the burning of Nocki Yazzie’s body near Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Bell was brought back to the Coconino County Detention Facility on six new felony charges.

Now facing four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of aggravated assault causing physical injury in addition to first-degree murder via a grand jury indictment, Bell claimed she remembered nothing from the night of Nocki Yazzie’s death in conversations with county detectives who arrested her at a transitional facility in Phoenix according to the updated police report obtained by the Arizona Daily Sun.

Explaining she had blacked out that night due to substance abuse, including meth and Xanax, Bell asked if the detectives would tell her what they knew regarding Nocki Yazzie’s death and what story Smith had told them. Explaining that she and Smith had never spoken about the murder to anyone else, Bell added that at one point Smith said they “ran into some trouble and he’s taking care of everything.�

Early on in the conversation, Bell inquired about taking another plea deal once she arrived back in Coconino County before the conversation varied widely during the trip to Flagstaff.

According to the police report, at various times in the conversation, Bell said that she felt she hadn’t done anything wrong, that the only version of the events had come from Smith and that if it was true, Smith had “just allowed it to happen.�

“The whole thing was just a blur. I think that’s why it’s easier to deal with, [because] I don’t remember it,� Bell said to the detectives, according to the police report, later adding, “Well, if (Smith) says that happened, I guess it happened. He was the one that’s in charge.�

Bell’s conversation with the detectives, which came after she was advised of her right not to talk to them without an attorney, continued to alternate between explaining that she did not remember anything and that she didn’t do anything. Bell also told the detectives that “anything’s possible� after being asked if it was possible that she did it and asked them how they knew that Smith wasn’t just lying.

As a part of Smith’s own plea agreement on July 10 that settled five different cases, a confidential and sealed addendum was included that was not made available to the public. Just eight days later, the grand jury indicted Bell on the six new felony charges and she was booked into the county jail on July 19.

During Bell and Smith's time in the Coconino County Detention Facility, law enforcement had reviewed the letters sent between the two. A total of 88 letters were sent between Bell and Smith, but details of the letters were not available in the report other than confirmation that they were the authors.

Additionally, Bell’s calls and messages from the detention facility were reviewed in March and April as part of the investigation well after she pleaded guilty in January. As part of the supplemental reports, detectives circled back to multiple people who were allegedly with Bell and Smith on the night of Nocki Yazzie’s death. Though little new information was revealed, at least one witness appeared uncomfortable as the questioning began to focus on any details of the now alleged murder.

Nocki Yazzie was reported missing on Feb. 21, 2023, with her body found at Sunset Crater on Feb. 24. Law enforcement did not confirm the body that was located was Nocki Yazzie until April, when DNA testing returned a positive match.

As Nocki Yazzie’s family explained during Bell’s sentencing hearing in January, the nearly two months between the disappearance and the positive identification left them searching everywhere for answers. After contacting hospitals and jails, the family reached out to the morgue in March 2023 and was asked to provide samples for a possible match. After receiving confirmation, the family explained its pain only escalated as it was unable to hold a traditional, proper burial due to the burning of the body.

Bell remains in custody at the Coconino County Detention Facility and recently had a case management conference for the new charges on Aug. 26. Smith also remains in county jail with his status conference on Sept. 11 continued to a later date as he awaits sentencing for his plea agreement.