State prosecutors announced Tuesday a Fairbanks grand jury handed down murder charges against the man accused of shooting Fairbanks police Sgt. Allen Brandt last month.
The supplemental indictment against 29-year-old Anthony George Jenkins-Alexie comes after Brandt's death on Friday. Officials said the officer died from complications of eye surgery he underwent following a shooting on Oct. 16 in downtown Fairbanks.
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Jenkins-Alexie stands accused of shooting Brandt five times in the legs and once in the chest. Shrapnel from the shot to the officer's bulletproof vest became lodged in his eye.
[Fairbanks officer who was shot dies after eye surgery complications]
Jenkins-Alexie now faces one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, according to an Alaska Department of Law release. He originally faced a first-degree attempted murder charge, as well as charges of assault, theft, vehicle theft and tampering with evidence.
The grand jury also returned a special verdict finding, said Fairbanks District Attorney Gregg Olson. The finding stipulates that Brandt was a uniformed or clearly identifiable peace officer engaged in official duties when he was shot, Olson said.
That distinction would result in a 99-year prison sentence if Jenkins-Alexie is found guilty on the first-degree murder charge and a jury returns the special verdict.
Jenkins-Alexie is scheduled to make a court appearance on Thursday at the Fairbanks Courthouse. He is currently being held on a no-bail condition pending trial.
A police procession carrying the body of Brandt traveled from the State Medical Examiner Office in Anchorage to a waiting plane to be returned home to the Interior's largest city, Fairbanks. Watch the procession here.