Alaska State Troopers arrested a Delta Junction woman Tuesday accused of killing a man in an August hit-and-run collision, with her mother also charged in an alleged cover-up of the crime.
Troopers said in an online dispatch that Chelsie Erickson, 32, is charged with criminally negligent homicide, failure to render aid and two counts of evidence tampering. Investigators had received a tip that she was involved in the Aug. 29 collision that killed Delta Junction resident John Emerick, 47.
The driver who struck Emerick on the Alaska Highway, just south of Delta Junction, didn’t stay at the scene. Since then, troopers have been asking for the public’s help in identifying the vehicle and suspect involved.
Troopers said Janell Erickson, 60, was also arrested and charged with evidence tampering.
The charges follow investigators’ discovery of a pickup truck in a locked shed next to the Ericksons’ home in Delta. According to troopers, the truck was concealed and its hood, grill and other parts had been removed. Troopers said they found more evidence on the pickup as they were removing it that confirmed it was the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run.
Troopers credit a citizen tip and the Department of Public Safety’s Technical Crimes Unit in Anchorage with identifying Chelsie Erickson as a suspect.
The Ericksons are being held at the Fairbanks Correctional Center. A booking officer said they are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon.
Tim Ellis is a reporter at KUAC in Fairbanks.
