Fatal crash nets murder charge

WASILLA — One person is dead and another is facing murder charges after a rollover crash early Saturday morning..

Joseph L. Tello, 21, of Anchorage, has been charged with drunken driving, driving with a revoked license, assault and murder, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Monday, Tello made his second appearance in court. He was there to hear the murder and other charges, since troopers added them to the list after his first hearing. Shackled to other prisoners, no one asked him for any input and he didn’t offer any. His attorney, Elizabeth Varela, entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.

Troopers were called to the scene of the crash on Vine Road near Dandy Circle at 4:05 a.m., a trooper press release stated.

They found Tello sitting on the ground next to Amber S. Anderson, 20, of Anchorage, who was bleeding heavily from her head.

Troopers said they didn’t think Tello and Anderson were wearing seat belts when the crash occurred. They know Tello was driving, with Anderson riding in the passenger seat.

As Tello drove the 2003 Pontiac Grand Am south on Vine Road, the car left the street, hit the ditch and rolled several times.

The impact apparently hurled Anderson from the car.

Tello, on the other hand, escaped with mostly minor injuries. Both were taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center; Tello in an ambulance and Anderson in a helicopter.

Once he’d been treated, Tello was arrested for assault, drunken driving and driving with a revoked license.

An ambulance later transported Anderson to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. Twelve hours after the crash, she was declared dead at the hospital. After Anderson died, the murder and other related charges were added to the list Tello now faces.

“Some people just try and say, ‘It’s an accident it’s an accident.’ But when it’s somebody’s decision to get behind the wheel not wearing seat belts, being impaired — those are choices,” AST spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Peters said she didn’t know if Tello and Anderson had any relationship besides that of passenger and driver. She also didn’t want to speculate if Tello’s alleged intoxication was the reason he was being held responsible for Anderson’s death.

“Depending on what other actions transpired, you could potentially have similar charges” without a drunken-driving charge, Peters said. “In this case, we feel that it meets the criteria of the definition of those charges.”

At Monday’s hearing, Palmer District Court Judge John Wolfe bumped Tello’s bail from $20,000 to $250,000. If he meets that bail requirement he will have to find a third party to watch over him before he can be released.

Jail records late Monday afternoon showed Tello was still being held at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility.

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