Details emerge in Big Lake shooting

BIG LAKE — A scuffle in the middle of a local side road Friday sparked a shooting that killed a man and landed another in jail.

The details of what Christoffer Inman, 26, and Larry Mayo, 53, of Houston, were arguing over are unclear in an affidavit Alaska State Trooper David Bower filed in court Saturday. But Bower did shed some light on the events leading up to Inman’s death.

He writes that Wyatt Metro, who was driving the car with Inman as a passenger, called to report the shooting at 11:05 p.m. Metro was calling from the intersection of Victor Road and Tom Parker’s Way. The former runs along the eastern shore of Beaver Lake, the later connects to Hawk Lane, which in turn connects with the Parks Highway and Big Lake Road.

According to Bower, Metro said Inman had been shot in the chest. He brought Inman to the Big Lake Tesoro to meet medics.

“Inman was pronounced dead by medics in Big Lake and was not transported to the hospital,” Bower wrote.

Troopers got slightly differing accounts of what happened, but everyone agreed that Mayo was driving a white Ford pickup westbound when he saw Metro driving another Ford pickup in the other direction.

“Both vehicles stopped and Inman exited the vehicle he was a passenger in and went over to Mayo’s vehicle,” Bower wrote. “As Inman and Mayo talked they became engaged in a verbal argument.”

A second passenger in Metro’s vehicle got out to try to break up the fight, but wasn’t successful. Mayo’s passenger, William Jehlen, saw that Mayo and Inman were fighting over a gun, Bower wrote, based on witness accounts. Jehlen got it away from them and put it away, but the gun didn’t stay put away long before Mayo shot Inman. A woman riding in Metro’s vehicle tried to break up the fight and said she saw the shot fired. Jehlen said he didn’t see the shot, but watched Inman stagger back with blood spurting from his chest.

According to Bower’s affidavit, witnesses said Inman walked to Metro’s pickup, got in and Metro sped away.

“The woman who saw the shooting tried to lock herself in Mayo’s pickup, but he got in and kicked her out. She walked up to where Metro had stopped to call 911 and tried to give Inman CPR,” the affidavit says.

Jehlen and Mayo, meanwhile, got Mayo’s pickup stuck and went to a friend’s house. They asked the friend for a ride, but after asking enough questions to sort out what had just happened, the friend declined. The friend “told Mayo he would give him a ride, but it would be directly back to the scene to talk to troopers, which he did,” Bower wrote.

Mayo had a slightly different account of the fight.

“Larry Mayo stated that he became involved in a verbal argument with Inman and while they were fighting over the handgun it went off and struck Inman. Mayo did not remember Jehlen ever taking a handgun away from him and Inman,” Bower wrote.

Mayo was jailed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility, charged with second-degree murder.

The charge is slightly less serious than first-degree murder and, for him to be convicted, prosecutors will have to prove that Mayo intended to cause serious injury to Inman and wound up killing him, rather than that he intended his death as would be necessary for a first-degree murder conviction.

Mayo made an initial court appearance Sunday and is next due in court Dec. 28. At Sunday’s hearing, his bail was set at $250,000 and he was ordered to first locate a third party to watch over him before he can be released.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.