Vangie Randall-Shorty holds up a photograph of her son Zachariah Shorty during a stop in Bernalillo, New Mexico, on November 24, 2025. Susan Montoya Bryan/AP Bernalillo, New Mexico AP —

Unconditional love. That’s what Vangie Randall-Shorty felt the moment she first held her son. She still feels it — even though Zachariah Shorty is now gone.

“I carry him in my heart every day,” she said, while trying to find the words to describe the wave of emotions that washed over her Monday when she learned that federal authorities had charged three people in connection with her son’s killing on the Navajo Nation in 2020.

She had waited so long for answers, telling herself with each new year that she would finally see justice for her 23-year-old son. Her wait ended as the US Department of Ju

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