Two 18-year-old women killed in Hooper Bay last week were stabbed to death, according to charging documents against the man arrested on murder charges in the case Saturday.
Twenty-year-old Hooper Bay resident Shaquille Carawan stands accused of killing Abigail Olson and Novely Rivers.
Carawan made an initial telephonic appearance on the charges in an Emmonak courtroom on Monday. Magistrate Judge Darlene Johnson-Edwards said that, based on the charging document, she’s determined that there is probable cause to support the charges.
“What I need to tell you, Mr. Carawan, is I will not be accepting a plea from you,” Johnson-Edwards said. “However, we’ll be explaining the charges that are being brought against you in this case, and your case will be sent on for further proceedings.”
The women’s bodies were found in a local home Wednesday morning.
According to the charges, the state medical examiner’s office determined two days later that both Rivers and Olson died as a result of blood loss from “multiple knife injuries.”
The charges say that trooper investigators connected Carawan to Rivers and Olson through text messages obtained with a warrant. The messages indicated that Carawan was going to provide marijuana and homebrew alcohol to Rivers and Olson early on the morning of their deaths.
According to the charges, the investigators confirmed that the phone that had been used to text Rivers was Carawan’s, and they obtained another warrant to search his house. The charges say that troopers found shoes with blood in the treads, and a knife hidden between a fridge and the wall that matched some evidence at the residence where Rivers and Olson were found. Troopers also alleged in the charges that Carawan confessed upon questioning.
The deaths of Rivers and Olson have rocked the 1,300-person community of Hooper Bay, located on the coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. In the days since their bodies were discovered, there has been an outpouring of community prayer and condolences on local social media pages and in person, and community members have participated in a walk of solidarity and started a GoFundMe to benefit the women’s families.
Before Carawan’s arrest on Saturday, troopers had announced that the City of Hooper Bay and the Native Village of Hooper Bay had offered a $10,000 reward for details leading to the arrest and arraignment of the person or persons involved in the killings. As of Monday, it was not publicly clear if a tip had led to Carawan’s arrest or whether the reward would be paid out.
In court, state prosecutor Jessica Haines requested a “significant monetary posting” for Carawan’s bail. “At this point, we are extremely concerned for the safety of the community, with regard to Mr. Carawan,” Haines said.
Carawan told the magistrate judge that he’s not currently employed. She assigned his case to the Bethel Public Defender Agency. Court records show that Carawan has no prior convictions in Alaska.
Johnson-Edwards set bail in the case at $1.5 million and ordered that Carawan not return to Hooper Bay, possess or consume any controlled substances, or have contact with the victims’ families or any witnesses in the case.
If convicted, Carawan faces up to 99 years in prison and up to a $500,000 fine for each count of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, as well as up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine for each of the charges of furnishing alcohol to a minor and tampering with evidence.
As of Monday, Carawan was being held at the Yukon Kuskokwim Correctional Center in Bethel.
The next hearing in the case is set for 3 p.m. on Oct. 17 in Bethel court.
