Tuesday, March 1, 2005 | 11 a.m.
It did not escape stabbing victim Shiloh Edsitty that Monday's permanent guardianship hearing was cordial and that the next time he appears in a Las Vegas courtroom the atmosphere likely will be adversarial.
"It was cool, really cool," Shiloh said after Family Court Judge Gerald Hardcastle granted permanent guardianship to Vivian and Bryant "Bo" Powell after reviewing reports from both Child Protective Services and the Navajo Nation that the Powells likely would encourage the 13-year-old Navajo boy to pursue "his cultural identity."
Vivian Powell had served as Shiloh's foster mom for nine years at the request of his biological mother, Teresa Tilden, until Tilden took him back two years ago. Tilden was murdered Nov. 8 in an attack at her Las Vegas apartment that left Shiloh near death with a 10-inch butcher knife in his chest.
James Menor Valdez, 29, is in the Clark County Detention Center awaiting trial on murder and attempted murder charges in connection with the attacks. While en route to the hospital, Shiloh told Metro Police the name of his attacker.
After Monday's hearing, Shiloh reiterated that he stands ready to testify in a criminal courtroom to identify his and his mother's attacker and is prepared to face cross-examination from Valdez's defense attorneys.
"Yes, I will do it," Shiloh said. He said that his several appearances in Family Court have made him more comfortable in a courtroom setting. "I'll just act the way people on TV (in courtroom dramas) do."
Vivian Powell is holding out hope that a plea bargain can be reached that would free Shiloh from testifying about the night he witnessed his mother's brutal slaying and suffered six slashes from a blade that also lacerated his liver and carotid artery, punctured his intestine and cost him his gallbladder.
"Shiloh does not want the death penalty," she said. "He wants life in prison" for the attacker.
There have been delays granted in Valdez's preliminary hearing and there has been talk by prosecutors of perhaps bringing the case before a grand jury -- a move that would speed up the process of putting the case into District Court if an indictment is returned.
The Clark County District Attorney's office has said it will not decide on whether the Shiloh/Tilden attack is a death penalty case until the case clears Justice Court and gets into District Court.
Also, the Powells said Monday they are moving from upstate New York, where she has been a professor at St. Bonaventure University, to Salt Lake City, where she will be principal of an elementary school -- "my dream job," she said.
The move, the Powells said, also will make it easier for them to comply with the judge's order that Shiloh be given "on-going contact" with his Navajo relatives, including his biological father Nedford Edsitty of Arizona.
Also, Vivian Powell said, Shiloh recently learned he has a cousin in Salt Lake and wants to visit that relative. Shiloh, however, says he is apprehensive about visiting with his biological father, noting, "it is just too soon."
Monday's hearing boiled down to whether independent investigations by local child welfare officials and the Navajo Nation determined that the Powells' New York home fostered an environment that would encourage Shiloh to maintain his Indian heritage and customs.
Vivian Powell at one time was a teacher at a Utah school for American Indians, where Tilden was one of her students.
The Powells have told the court they will pay for the county's investigation, saving local taxpayers the expense.
Hardcastle previously had ordered Child Protective Services to conduct the study to address concerns of the Navajo Nation over whether attempts were made to deliberately exclude them from the custody process, which they said would have been in violation of the Indian Child Welfare Act.
At a prior hearing, Hardcastle determined that the Navajo Nation could have taken jurisdiction of the case in its courts, but instead opted to allow the local court that oversees juvenile affairs to decide the matter.
On Monday, Hardcastle, during the 20-minute guardianship hearing, had strong words for the local child welfare agency, warning that concerns of the Navajo Nation and Indian law need to be addressed in future Family Court cases and that local officials "didn't follow them in this case."
The Navajo Nation raised its concerns after a Child Protective Services agent in December gave the Powells temporary custody of Shiloh and perhaps overlooked blood relatives who might have wanted to raise the boy.
Kandis Martine, staff attorney for the Navajo Department of Justice, told Hardcastle during proceedings that she appreciated his recognizing "the Navajo Nation had a place in the proceedings."
"We are a resource," Martine said, indicating that Clark County agencies would find input from the Navajo Nation vital in future cases involving Navajo children who come into the local child welfare system.
Shilohy said he has expressed a desire to be adopted by the Powells. But Vivian was cautious Monday, not wanting to raise a red flag with the Navajo Nation. She said that issue can be addressed at a more suitable time down the road.
"I just want to get on with my life," said Shiloh, who has attracted a whirlwind of local and national news media attention.
A half-hour report on Shiloh is expected to air on the syndicated TV news magazine show "A Current Affair" in late March or early April, said the show's field producer Alastair Bates, who was at Monday's hearing and has done extensive interviews with Shiloh in recent weeks.
"It is an inspiring, encouraging story," Bates said.
Shiloh has said that despite the violent incident that tore him from his birth mother and scarred him for life, he had no regrets over his decision to come to Las Vegas and move in with her because during the little time they had together he got to know his mother better and appreciate her struggles in life.
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