Anchorage man found guilty of murder in Fourth of July cookout shooting

An Anchorage man who walked into a trailer bathroom during a 2016 Fourth of July cookout and fatally shot another man nine times has been found guilty of murder.

A jury on Tuesday found Trayvon Leon Artis Morrisette, 34, guilty of first- and second-degree murder and first-degree burglary, the Anchorage District Attorney's office said in a written statement.

Morrissette killed Jorge Rea-Villa Jr., who was 30 years old. During a barbecue, Morrissette went into a bathroom, pulled out a 9-mm handgun and shot Villa Jr. nine times, according to prosecutors.

Charging documents from 2016 said Morrissette then walked out of the trailer and gave no explanation to witnesses who were trying to figure out what had happened.

Others at the gathering called 911, saying that Rea-Villa Jr. was dead and had been shot for no reason, prosecutors said.

Soon after, Morriessette drove to a parking lot beneath a nearby apartment complex. He hid in an apartment and then fled on foot. As he fled around the Campbell Creek area, Anchorage police got multiple calls of a person matching his description, prosecutors said. He was found by a police canine unit hiding under a stairway in another apartment.

Assistant Anchorage district attorney James Klugman wrote in an email that Morrissette "claimed at trial that the killing was the result of his methamphetamine-induced psychosis."

[After pursuit, Anchorage police arrest suspect in fatal Fourth of July shooting]

In 2016, the victim's father told ADN that Rea-Villa Jr. had been a self-employed, talented tattoo artist.

Morrissette faces between 20 to 99 years for the first-degree murder charge. He's being held without bail prior to sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct. 5, online records show.