2 accused of murdering man in shooting near Anchorage homeless camp

Two suspects have been arrested after a Midtown Anchorage homeless camp was sprayed with gunfire early Saturday, leaving one man dead and another wounded.

Dominick L. Santana, 21, and Keilen J. Reynolds, 20, are each charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, weapons misconduct and first-degree and third-degree assault in the death of 30-year-old Farrel Siulua, according to a statement from Anchorage police. 

A charging document against Reynolds details what police say happened:

Officers heard gunfire just after 1 a.m. Saturday near East 40th Avenue and Fairbanks Street, at a homeless camp behind a Home Depot store. When they responded, they saw two people at a distance get into a dark-colored SUV, which headed east on Fairbanks then north on the Old Seward Highway.

Siulua was found along Fairbanks Street with a gunshot wound to the torso. Officers attempted first aid, but he was declared dead at the scene. The wounded man, who was shot in the foot while lying in a tent, told police things had been quiet just prior to the gunfire. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Investigators found a second tent, as well as two other vehicles being lived in that had bullet holes in them. They also spoke with the occupants of a pickup truck that arrived during the shooting and was also struck by gunfire.

Police found more than a dozen shell casings near where the SUV had been parked, at the intersection of Fairbanks and East 40th.

“Officers saw a blood trail leading from the area of the shell casings to where Siulua was discovered,” police said in the charging document.

Other witnesses told police that the shooting took place after two men had robbed a man in a sedan, drawing a response from the camp.

“Witnesses in the area saw the robbery and started yelling at the suspects and following them,” police said. “Witnesses heard gunfire after that.”

At least two people told police they had seen the robbery. One witness said that about 10 minutes after campers chased the robbery suspects away, they returned and opened fire.

“(The witness) believed that they were shooting indiscriminately,” police said.

Police distributed a detailed description of the dark SUV, which was spotted and stopped just after 10:15 a.m. Saturday near 9th Avenue and C Street. It was being driven by the woman who owned it, with Reynolds as a passenger, according to the charging document.

Reynolds was allegedly wearing an ankle monitor, with GPS data placing him in the area at the time of the shooting. An officer who visited Reynolds’ home on Friday to give him a battery for the monitor said he saw him with a man matching the other suspect’s description from witnesses.

The charging document says that when police confronted Reynolds with the GPS data and the officer’s account from the previous day, he allegedly said the other man seen at his home Friday was Santana, his cousin.

At about 6 p.m. Saturday, police took Santana into custody at the Fred Meyer on Abbott Loop. Investigators said he initially told them he was in Muldoon at the time of the shooting. When police showed him their evidence, the charges say, he allegedly admitted to being in the area but denied he was involved in the gunfire.

According to the charges, Reynolds later told officers he had visited the camp with the SUV driver that morning to buy fentanyl from the driver of the sedan. He said he asked Santana to accompany him, and that the deal was going fine until Santana pulled a gun and lunged into the sedan. Reynolds, who allegedly said he was armed only with “a very realistic looking airsoft handgun,” told police he ran back to the SUV and didn’t see what Santana did after that, the charging document said.

“Keilen said he and Dominck got back to the vehicle (and) fled the area,” police said in the charges. “Keilen said people were coming out of the area in several directions shooting at their car.”

Reynolds and Santana were in custody Monday at the Anchorage Correctional Complex.