Crime & Courts

Police seek 3rd suspect in fatal 2017 shooting in Spenard

Three people have been charged in the March 2017 killing of Craig Berumen II, whose body was found in a car in Anchorage's Spenard neighborhood.

On Tuesday, an Anchorage grand jury indicted Chaz Shanigan, 22; Devontay Gordon, 25; and Nicole Diaz, 32, on murder and robbery charges, according to an Anchorage Police Department statement.

Shanigan and Gordon are already in prison serving felony sentences. Diaz, who was out on bail when Berumen was killed, is being sought by police.

Berumen, 32, was killed near the Executive Suites hotel in Spenard early the morning of March 8, 2017.

At the time, police said, witnesses saw a wounded Berumen jump out of a window at the hotel. He reportedly got into a car outside the hotel as a passenger, and they drove to a nearby McDonald's restaurant.

The car was found idling nearby, with Berumen half out of the passenger side, police said.

Police called the killing a "targeted drug-related crime."

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After the shooting, police sought two people of interest who officers believed had information about the incident. Those two people were not charged with any crimes related to the case Tuesday.

Shanigan faces charges of first- and second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and misconduct involving a weapon. At the time of the killing, Shanigan had fled from the Cordova Center, an Anchorage halfway house.

Gordon was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery. At the time of Berumen's death, Gordon was on supervised felony probation.

Diaz was charged with first- and second-degree murder and first-degree robbery. Police say she has another felony arrest warrant for failure to appear in court.

Anyone with information about Diaz's whereabouts is asked to call the police non-emergency dispatch line at 311, or submit an anonymous tip through Anchorage Crime Stoppers.

Laurel Andrews

Laurel Andrews was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in October 2018.

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