Palmer woman dead after 'accident' involving gun and alcohol

PALMER — A Palmer woman is dead and a Palmer man is in custody after an alleged, “accident,” that involved a gun and alcohol.

Brian T. Burton was arrested early Saturday morning after one of his roommates, Crisslin Cruz, was found with a gunshot would to the chest. Burton, 22, claimed the shooting was an accident and that he didn’t know there was a bullet in the chamber of his 9mm handgun, according to court documents. The call came in at 2:43 a.m. on Saturday and Cruz, 23, was pronounced dead at 3:05 a.m., authorities say.

Burton told Palmer Police that he and Cruz had gone to a party on Clark-Wolverine Road in Palmer where he was carrying his pistol in his waistband without a bullet in the chamber. He, Cruz, and third roommate, who initially heard the gunshot and told a neighbor to call 911, all live together on Fern Street.

Burton told PPD that he had two beers at the party and returned home with Cruz when the “accident” occurred.

“They had a lot,” the roommate of Burton and Cruiz said in the affidavit, referring to Burton and Cruz.

Burton’s blood alcohol content was .201 at 3:30 a.m., according to police.

“I didn’t realize it was (sic) loaded,” Burton said in the affidavit. “I didn’t load it.”

Burton was distraught when initially contacted, hyperventilating, wailing and clenching his fists, according to the documents. Police detected alcohol on his breath and person, his eyes were bloodshot and his speech was slurred. When asked about how his alcohol content could be twice the legal limit if he had only had two beers, Burton claimed that they were “tall boys” with high alcohol content, according to authorities.

Burton admitted to pointing the black SCCY 9mm at Cruz, a woman he had known for three years after working together and considered to be his “sister,” though not blood related. He claims that the two would “play around” together, pointing the gun and pulling the trigger, according to the documents. Cruz and Burton’s roommate told police that he had never seen Burton play with the pistol except when he was cleaning it. He does not have a holster, so he carried it in the waistband of his pants and said that he does not carry the pistol with a bullet in the chamber. Cruz was found on the couch with a hole in her chest and a grazing wound on her wrist, according to the affidavit. The wound is described in court documents by the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center doctor who pronounced her death as if she was holding her hand up when shot.

Burton was interviewed twice, once at the crime scene and once upon detainment at Mat-Su Pretrial. He persisted that he and Cruz were playing around with the pistol and that he did not check the chamber or the magazine to see if they were loaded, according to the documents

“Didn’t think nothing of it,” Burton told police. “Click click, ha ha.”

Burton was charged on Sunday with murder in the second degree, negligent homicide, a felony, and two misdemeanor misconduct involving weapons in the fourth degree charges for firing recklessly and possession while intoxicated. Cruz and Burton’s roommates said that none of them were romantically involved. Burton had blood on his pants, shoe and shirt, according to the documents. He told police that he shook her face to check and see if she was ok after the gun went off. The Alaska Statute Burton is charged with violating states that “the person knowingly engages in conduct that results in the death of another person under circumstances manifesting in extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

Burton will appear in Palmer District Court on Sept. 26 for a preliminary hearing. He is held on $30,000 Cash Corporate Bail and $10,000 Cash Performance Bail and required to wear PED monitoring.