Police want the community’s help locating a man charged in the shooting death of Xeryus Tate, one of the young men killed in a string of recent shootings in Anchorage.
According to a Thursday morning release from the Anchorage Police Department, 18-year-old Deandrew Lee Jennings Walker-Webster II has been charged in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Tate. A warrant for Walker-Webster’s arrest was issued late Wednesday afternoon, but officers have yet to find him.
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Just after 2 a.m. on Sunday, July 31, police found Tate shot dead, in East Anchorage on the ground near his 1995 Honda Accord.
According to a complaint filed Wednesday, five passengers were in the car with Tate when he was shot. The document says a witness saw the car driving in the area of Fourth Avenue and Newell Street when it came to a stop and Tate got out of the driver’s side door and collapsed in the street.
Two of the passengers ran from the scene, but two others, including Walker-Webster, stayed at the scene and waited for police, the complaint explains.
Walker-Webster, and the other person who stayed, were both interviewed by police. According to the complaint, Walker-Webster initially told investigators he was in the back seat of the vehicle with two white males while Tate drove.
“He stated that the white male sitting behind Tate got into an argument with Tate and ‘the white dude just shot him,’”the complaint said.
Walker-Webster told detectives the shooter then ran from the vehicle.
The other person in the vehicle shared no details with police, except that Tate, who also went by Iggy, was dead.
Law enforcement collected the clothing and phones from Walker-Webster and the other person, and then both of them were released, court documents explain.
The autopsy discovered Tate had been shot in his back. The bullet was lodged in his chest.
Sunday night, one of the occupants who had fled connected law enforcement. He told police the names of whom else was in the vehicle and shared the events that lead up to Tate’s death. According to the complaint, he told detectives they had all been smoking marijuana in the vehicle in a trailer court at Sixth Avenue and Boniface. Then another occupant of the car pulled out a gun and then started “playing with it.” He said he told the others to put the gun way. Then the gun went off, Tate collapsed and he said he “panicked” and fled.
The complaint states that detectives were able to make contact with the other person who fled. According to the court document, he and the others were smoking marijuana with a girl in the trailer park who had been showing off the gun. He told detectives Walker-Webster “must have stolen the handgun from the female in the trailer.”
“He said Iggy indicated he had been hit and he immediately pulled over and parked. He said Iggy got out of the vehicle, took a couple of steps, and fell to the ground.”
The complaint also states the gun that killed Tate hasn’t been found.
Because he, “recklessly caused the death of Xeryus Tate,” Walker-Webster has been charged with one count of manslaughter, APD stated, and his initial bail is set at $50,000, plus a third-party custodian.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Walker-Webster is asked to contact Anchorage Police at 907-786-8900. To provide an anonymous crime tip, contact Anchorage Crime Stoppers at 907-561-STOP or go to www.anchoragecrimestoppers.com.
KTVA 11′s Daniella Rivera contributed to this report.
