Anchorage men facing charges in Butte home invasion

Two 22-year old anchorage men face a seven felony charges each including first-degree attempted murder, assault, armed robbery, and burglary stemming from July 21, 2016 incident in Butte.

Shaquan M. Johnson, is charged with one count each of first-degree attempted murder, assault, and burglary; along with two counts of third-degree assault and one count of first-degree armed robbery. Shyheim Chavis faces one count each of first-degree attempted murder, burglary and third-degree assault; plus two counts of first-degree armed robbery and two counts of first-degree assault.

According to court affidavits, Alaska State Troopers (AST) responded to an East Plumley Road residence call of home invasion with shots fired around 1:15 a.m. Troopers stated they found a husband and wife inside the home. The husband had been shot in the arm and shoulder, and the wife had a mark on her forehead.

The husband said he was asleep at the time of the initial break-in while his wife was elsewhere in the house. Troopers stated the man told them he heard his wife scream, jumped out of bed, and once he realized what was happening, grabbed a handgun off the headboard. The victim said as he turned back, he was shot by one of the robbers who ran into another room, but returned fire. The culprit then jumped through a window.

The wife reported she had heard something earlier while working in an outdoor workshop. She told police she came into the house around 12:15 a.m. and was on the couch when she spotted a dark-skinned, slender male standing in front of her pointing a black semi-automatic pistol in her face. According to court records, the victim grabbed the gun with both hands wrestling it away from her face while screaming.

Through evidence left near the scene and using a police K-9 unit to track it back to the home, police were able to match a DNA sample to Chavis. After being interrogated while jailed on an unrelated case in Anchorage, police say Chavis admitted to both being at the residence and shooting the husband. He further implicated Johnson as the person who held the wife at gunpoint, as well as two other males.

After obtaining a warrant to check cell phone records, police were able to verify that Johnson was in the immediate area at the time the shooting took place. Cell data was also collected on Chavis and the other two men. Police state the data linked all four as traveling from Anchorage to Butte and back to Anchorage at the exact time of the incident.

Police state that Johnson fled Alaska shortly after the shooting returning to his home state of Oregon but recently returned to Anchorage. Another suspect, 17-year old Xeryus "Iggy" Tate, one of the two other men implicated, was murdered in Anchorage on July 31. Both Johnson and Chavis remained jailed on $500,000 bail and court-appointed third party (CATP).