Anchorage Police have charged 31-year-old Stacey Allen Graham after he crashed, killing two teenage girls Friday evening.
APD spokeswoman Dani Myren says it happened around 6:45 near Abbot Road and 88th Street.
“The pickup truck was coming from Dimond Boulevard and approaching the Abbott curve when it apparently lost control and swerved onto the bike path located to the West side of Abbot Road, just north of 88th street where the two girls were walking,” Myren said. “The truck struck the two girls before colliding with a large business sign.”
“The truck ended up on its side.”
15-year-old Brooke McPheters and 15-year-old Jordyn Durr were pronounced dead at the scene.
The roof of Graham’s vehicle was removed in order to extract him from the vehicle. He was transported to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Preliminary alcohol tests indicate Graham had about 3 times the legal limit of alcohol in his system at the time of the crash.
He has been charged with Operating Under the Influence and two counts of Murder 2. The girls were reportedly walking home from Dimond Center after shopping for back-to-school items.
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
