ANCHORAGE — Anchorage police investigating a double homicide and robbery say one victim was shot after a struggle over a gun and the second likely killed because she witnessed the shooting.
Three men have been charged with two counts of second-degree murder, armed robbery and burglary in the deaths on Christmas Eve of Christopher Brooks, 38, and Danielle Brooks, 32, at their northeast Anchorage home.
Deanthony Malik Harris, 19, who police said was wounded by gunfire in the incident, was arrested at an Anchorage hospital. He was brought to the hospital by Jaylyn Franklin, 20, who also is in custody.
Police say Franklin helped identify Lamarkus Mann, 22, whom police said fired the fatal shots. Police arrested Mann on Tuesday at an Anchorage motel.
Just before 4 p.m. Dec. 24, police took a 911 call reporting a man with gunshot wounds outside an apartment house. They found Christopher Brooks mortally wounded.
Inside the apartment doorway, they found his wife, Danielle Brooks, dead of gunshot wounds.
A 6-year-old boy, the son of Danielle Brooks, was in the parking lot. He told officers that “ninjas” had come to the house, ordered him into his room and killed his family.
A neighbor told police he saw three men, dressed in black, run from the apartment to a sport utility vehicle and drive off. Security footage recorded by a neighbor showed three men entering the apartment and running out minutes later, police said.
About 25 minutes after the 911 call, staff at Providence Hospital reported a man with a gunshot wound, Harris, had been dropped off. He said he had been walking when on a street when he heard an argument, saw a man being chased, heard shots and received a wound to his leg. He said he had been with Franklin.
Police found Franklin, who at first said he and Harris were 10 blocks from the murder scene when Harris was shot. He changed his story under questioning, police said.
Franklin eventually told police that he and Harris had agreed to join Mann in robbing Christopher Brooks of drugs and money. Franklin told police they drove to the apartment, and he and Harris waited with Danielle Brooks while Mann took Christopher Brooks into a bedroom.
Franklin told police the men came out of the bedroom, and Brooks tried wrestling Mann’s gun away. The gun fired and struck Harris.
Franklin said Mann then shot Christopher Brooks and turned the gun on Danielle Brooks. He agreed with a detective that Mann “probably” shot her because she was a witness, police said.
Franklin identified Mann in a photo lineup, police said.
Online court records to not list attorneys for Mann or Harris. Mann was scheduled for arraignment Tuesday.
Franklin is represented by the public defender’s office, which does not comment on open cases. A phone message left for assistant public defender Jonathon Torres was not immediately returned.
