“Come be about it.” Rally to support prosecution of local teen’s death planned for May 12

The family of Alena Toennis, with the support of community members, is planning a peaceful rally in support of her, and to support ‘No More Leniency for Dealers,’ May 12, at 12 p.m. at the Palmer Courthouse.

The rally comes ahead of the first court appearance of Sean Mobley, the man charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, and misconduct involving a controlled substance, in connection with Alena’s death in November, 2024.

A thorough investigation by the Alaska Bureau of Investigation found that in November, 2024, Mobley provided fentanyl to Toennis before abandoning her on a Wasilla trail while she experienced an overdose. She later died as a result of the fentanyl provided by Mobley, Alaska State Troopers said.

The family says that in the aftermath of Alena’s death, and the subsequent arrest, they received “thoughts and prayers” on social media, but also some negative comments from “keyboard tough guys” doubting that any action will come in the case. So the family decided to take action and come together with the community to bring awareness to Alena, the scourge of fentanyl, and to support the recently passed HB 66, which raises potential penalties for drug dealers by classifying the distribution of a controlled substance causing an overdose death as a second-degree murder. Previously, prosecutors had the option of charging distributors with the lesser violation of manslaughter in those cases.

The family reached out to Sandy Snodgrass — a local advocate who in 2021 also lost a child to fentanyl poisoning — to help organize the rally and have made it a family affair as one of Alena’s brothers has created the flyers and sister Elyssa has posted the rally online.

“Come be about it, help make Alena’s murder mean something,” said Alena’s mother, who reiterated that they do not want to do anything to interfere with the case, but rather raise a ruckus about fentanyl and substance use disorder in the Mat-Su Valley. While there is no set color or theme, the family says that Alena loved pink and butterflies if the public wants to show their support.

Alaska had 342 fatal overdoses in 2023, a record-high number, according to state data, while the CDC calculated that Alaska had a 33.32% increase in overdose deaths from January 2023 to January 2024, the highest among all U.S. states for that period.