Court documents are shedding more light on a shooting at Russian Jack Apartments in East Anchorage.
Jerel Williams, 26, was charged with first- and second-degree murder in connection with 22-year-old Christopher Fulton Jr.’s death last week. Samantha Herbert, 23, was also charged with second-degree murder. Both Williams and Herbert have prior convictions, according to a criminal complaint.
An unnamed witness told the Anchorage Police Department that on Sept. 4, she and Fulton were inside a bedroom in the Reka Drive apartment when Fulton received a call from his roommate, asking him to unlock the front door because she forgot her key, according to the complaint.
Fulton left the bedroom to unlock the door and returned to the room, court documents say. Shortly after, a man armed with a gun and a woman entered the bedroom. The man and Fulton left the bedroom, which is when the witness told authorities she heard a loud “bang.”
The witness, who said she was assaulted by the man and woman, told detectives that the intruders stole her cellphone, both of Fulton’s cellphones and a small safe, according to the complaint.
The witness said she, Fulton, the man and the woman all used heroin. The four had all either bought or sold the drug to each other in the past, she said. The witness identified the female intruder as “Samantha,” the man as “Derrick” or “Da Rick” and said the two lived in a townhouse-style building behind the Credit Union 1 in Mountain View and that “Samantha” drove a pink minivan, the complaint says.
Derrick Hall was initially named a person of interest in the case, but it was determined he was not in the state when the murder occurred, the complaint says.
On Sept. 5, Williams and Herbert were picked up by Wasilla police after they were spotted walking along a highway. The two were transported to APD, where Williams’ identity was confirmed via voluntary fingerprinting. That same day, Herbert’s uncle told police that he sold her the pink van that police found abandoned near Eklutna, the complaint says.
According to the court documents, the witness from the scene confirmed in a photographic lineup on Sept. 6 that Williams was the man who shot Fulton. She identified Herbert as the woman who participated in the robbery.