A dispute at a Fairbanks nightclub last fall ended with gunfire both inside and outside, leaving one man dead, two other people injured, and two others now charged in the case, according to court documents.
The Fairbanks Police Department said Tuesday Army Spc. Tevyn Alonza Davis, 22, faces a second-degree murder count in the shooting of 27-year-old Michael Jeremy Hodges, slain in the early hours of Sept. 4 at Bojangles on Cushman Street. Joshua Jermaine Haynes, 28, is also charged with weapons misconduct in the shooting.
A third defendant, 32-year-old Gabrielle Patrice Haynes, was also initially charged with weapons misconduct, but that count was dismissed by prosecutors Tuesday. Neither Fairbanks police nor the Fairbanks district attorney's office had immediate comment on the reason for the dismissal Wednesday.
In a charging document against Davis, an active-duty soldier stationed at Fort Wainwright, FPD Detective Avery Thompson said Jesse Anderson was shot and survived. Anderson's wife, Breannah Mitchell, suffered minor injuries inside the bar.
Surveillance video from Bojangles showed Davis in a group along with the Hayneses and several other people on the night of the shooting, according to Thompson; the victims were in another group at the time, but an altercation began after a member of Davis' group "inappropriately" touched Mitchell.
Security staff at the bar decided to escort Gabrielle Haynes and another person involved in the dispute out of the bar. The head of security told detectives that he saw Joshua Haynes raise what he believed was a handgun, Thompson said.
"The head of security dove off to the side as he yelled, 'Gun!' and a round was discharged," Thompson wrote.
People ran out of the bar after the gunshot, which police later found had hit two bar-stools. Soon after people left, Thompson said, Mitchell called 911 and told dispatchers her husband "had been shot in the back by a male in a white shirt." Officers responded to the scene at 2:33 a.m.
Both Hodges and Anderson were found in a grassy area near the northwest side of the Bojangles property; they both had gunshot wounds to the torso and were taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where Hodges died. Mitchell was treated for her injuries and released. Anderson was hospitalized, but survived.
Detectives examining the crime scene outside Bojangles found two .40-caliber shell casings in the grassy area near where the victims were shot, Thompson wrote. A bullet was also recovered on the ground, below an impact mark left on an exterior door of the building.
Police were able to interview Anderson four days after the shooting, when he regained consciousness. He told them that outside the bar, he saw several men surrounding Hodges and believed they were going to "jump" him, so he told one of them that "no one was going to 'jump' anyone."
Anderson told police one of the men had pushed him, then pointed a gun at his face as he saw Hodges being beaten.
"Jesse (Anderson) moved towards Hodges (who was down on the ground) and tried to help him," Thompson wrote. "When Jesse leaned down to assist Hodges, he and Hodges were both shot."
Another witness who was present at the time didn't see the shooting, but saw a man pointing a gun just before the shots were fired.
The witness pointed the man out to police from video surveillance, and police identified him as Davis, Thompson wrote. A passing driver told police he saw a man who matched Davis' physical description and attire that night shooting first Hodges, then Anderson.
Davis and Joshua Haynes are set to appear in court on March 23. In the meantime, Fairbanks police are asking anyone with additional information on the shooting to call Thompson at 907-450-6549.