Anchorage police on Saturday arrested two people and charged them with murder in relation to Thursday's fatal shooting of Christopher Fulton Jr. in Anchorage.
According to an Anchorage Police Department release, 26-year-old Jerel Williams was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, and first-degree robbery. Samantha Herbert, 23, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree-robbery.
According to charging documents, the couple were picked up by Wasilla police Saturday after ditching their van and hitchhiking along the Glenn Highway. They were transferred to APD headquarters for questioning.
A female witness was in the Reka Drive apartment at the time of the attack Thursday and knew the assailants, according to court documents.
She told investigators that she only knew Williams as "Da Rick" or "Derrick" and didn't know Herbert's last name. But the witness knew where Herbert lived, and they had all purchased heroin from or sold heroin to each other, according to court documents.
The witness said on the day of the shooting, Herbert and Williams stormed into the apartment's bedroom, and the man she knew as "Da Rick" had a gun. She told investigators that he and Fulton left the bedroom and she heard "a loud 'bang.'" She claimed the two attackers stole cellphones and a small safe that had $40 inside, and that she had been hit in the head.
Police were notified of the shooting shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday. When medics arrived eight minutes later, Fulton was already dead.
APD spokesperson Jennifer Castro wouldn't say Sunday whether the crimes were drug-related. She said more information is expected to be released this week.
Derrick Hall was named a "person of interest" shortly after the incident, but charging documents say he wasn't even in Alaska when the shooting took place. Court records say that when the witness looked at a photo lineup on the day of the shooting, she identified Hall "because he looked the most like the man who had shot Fulton." Further confusion stemmed from the witness initially identifying the male assailant -- who matched Hall's description, according to court documents -- as "Da Rick" or "Derrick" to investigators.
Hall was in Las Vegas at the time of the murder, and he went to a police station there to call APD and clear his name.
Anyone with additional information on the shooting is urged to call APD at 907-786-8900.