A black bear pushed its way into a home in the Navajo Nation community of Crystal at about 1 p.m. on Thursday, August 20, 2026, and mauled the man inside, 67-year-old Benjamin Halona, to death, the Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife said.
Eight days before the animal got in, Halona had turned 67. He was alone in the house, because his stepson, Casey, was out at the post office.
Escape was not realistic for him. He had been widowed in February, when his wife, Bernadine, died of an illness, and a seizure had left him leaning on a walker and a wheelchair while he recovered. He could not get away from the bear.
A Stepson’s Frantic Call for Help
Casey came back to a door standing ajar. Inside, he saw the bear.
He ducked into a nearby room, shoved a dresser against the door and hid in a closet. His cellphone worked from in there, and he called for help. Two relatives got calls as well — his stepfather’s sister, Gloria Halona, and his stepfather’s niece, Samantha Vandever.
Both women drove to the house. The bear had already moved outside by the time they pulled up, and Vandever sounded the car horn over and over until the animal fled. The scene waiting for them indoors, she said later, was horrific and more than the family could easily absorb.
Law enforcement officers who responded shot and wounded the bear, but the animal ran into nearby woods, the wildlife department said. Trackers caught up with it later and neutralized it. The department confirmed that Halona died of the injuries he suffered in the attack, and a statement from the Navajo Police Department gave the same account. Because no necropsy finding has been made public, it is not known whether the bear was sick, starving or habituated to people.
Deaths like this almost never happen in New Mexico. Halona’s was only the second reported in the state in a century, and the last one came 25 years ago, almost to the day. A black bear that pushed through a screen door killed Adelia Maestas Trujillo, 93, at her home in Cleveland, in Mora County, on August 18, 2001.
Remembered for His Firefighting Career
Halona had a career as a firefighter, and in his later years he made and sold tamales. His relatives have said they want the work he did, and not the way he died, to define him.
Her uncle endured a great deal over the course of his life, Vandever said, and his death has left the rest of the family devastated.
The Family Church Assembly of God in Fort Defiance, Ariz., hosted funeral services on Saturday, August 29, and he was buried the same day at the family plot in Crystal. Two siblings, four children, five stepchildren, 15 grandchildren and a great-grandchild survive him, his family said. Officials have announced no memorial fund.
Officials Point to Drought Conditions
Bear sightings had already been climbing across Navajo Nation communities when the killing happened. Drought and low moisture have thinned out the natural food supply the animals depend on, the Navajo Nation Department of Fish and Wildlife has said, sending bears farther afield and making them bolder as they chase calories ahead of hibernation.
Most encounters between people and bears come down to food, the wildlife department has said, and it has warned residents to regard black bears as unpredictable animals that can turn dangerous without warning. Attacks of this kind are unusual, the department said, but any bear may act defensively or aggressively. Residents should keep their distance — no feeding, no following, and no close-range photographs.
Running from a bear is the wrong instinct, the department advised. “Do not run. Face the bear and back away slowly, giving it a clear route to leave,” its guidance reads. If the bear approaches, it says, “stand your ground, make yourself look large, and make loud noises.” Keep children close and dogs on a leash, it says, and never let a dog chase or confront a bear. If a black bear does attack, the department said, fight back with anything available and do not play dead.
Households can take steps well before a bear ever turns up, the release adds: lock down garbage and livestock feed, move pet food inside, scrub grills, cut back brush around homes and corrals, keep doors and windows shut, and never feed a bear. Halona’s family, his loved ones and the Crystal community all received condolences from the wildlife department.
A Bad Year for Bears
Communities well beyond the Navajo Nation are wrestling with the same problem. Statewide, 253 bears were killed in the license year that began April 1, according to a tally by the New Mexico Department of Wildlife, which was renamed from the Department of Game and Fish on July 1. Of those, 186 were killed as threats to people, livestock, pets or property, 37 by hunters and 30 on roads or otherwise. That first figure stood at 60 for the entirety of the previous license year. Those totals were current as of the week of the attack, and the toll has kept climbing: by September 8, 254 bears had been killed in conflicts with people since April 1, New Mexico In Depth reported, surpassing the previous record of 242 set over the full 2011-12 license year.
Other parts of the state have felt the same pressure. A camper near Red River was bitten by a bear the day after the Crystal attack, and the same day a sighting sent five Santa Fe schools into shelter-in-place. The state closed bear hunting in one of its management zones on September 8 after the harvest limit was reached.
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren offered condolences on the day of the attack and asked people not to make assumptions until investigators finish their work. More than a month later, no necropsy or test results on the bear have been made public.