ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – On an overcast, cloudy day back in October 2018, Kyle Andrews committed a crime that would alter his life forever and garner statewide coverage about one of the worst days of his life.
He says he had been smoking meth and heroin inside a halfway house when he started having issues with another man. Andrews said he felt paranoid and craved something to help him calm down and sleep.
What happened next impacted Andrews, and his freedom, and today it’s a major barrier for him finding a job.
News reports at the time say Andrews was the subject of a suspicious person call after someone spotted him acting erratically. He was found near the roundabouts at Dowling Road and the Seward Highway where he ran into a construction zone, got into a construction vehicle, and then fled from police.
Officers chased Andrews and blocked him in with patrol cars near 64th Avenue and Ashwood Street, near Polaris K-12 School. The school was put into stay-put mode.
Andrews then drove the vehicle into a shallow marsh, ignored officers’ commands, and only after being tased was stopped and arrested on a warrant for escape. Andrews was additionally charged with vehicle theft, criminal mischief and resisting arrest. Along the path of his escape, muddy tire tracks could be seen on the sidewalk by the school and orange police crime tape lined the area.
That was the latest in a string of arrests that started back in August 2018.
Because of the escape and the school lockdown, news organizations wrote a story about the arrest with a photo provided by police. In the picture Andrew smiled intensely at the camera. His face was swollen and puffy.
Andrews says he had been using drugs or alcohol, in some form or another, since 2003 until 2019.
Then, in November of last year, Andrews emailed Alaska’s News Source.
“My name is Kyle Andrews,” his email read. “I was featured in the news several years ago and have since been to treatment and made outstanding progress. I am asking you for help. I have been looking for a job since I got clean and as far as I know, I am hitting a wall because whenever you google me ‘Kyle Andrews Anchorage’ … well, see for yourself. It’s amazing what one bad day in the news can do for someone. I would appreciate an opportunity to offer you a chance to visit the men’s group I run on Wednesday night and take a look at the content of the meeting, participate and write a story. Please let me know if you are interested.”
Updating old news stories has been a growing focus of newsrooms across the country. “The Right to be Forgotten” is an initiative that pushes for people to have the right to have information about themselves removed from internet searches or other online sources, and has been implemented in places like the Cleveland Plain Dealer news organization, with funding from the Google GNI Innovation Challenge. It’s become a social justice issue, partly because some crime stories can be clouded in bias.
“Many have turned their lives around and are trying to move forward, but our stories get in the way, blocking job hunts or relationships,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s website says.
Andrews met Alaska’s News Source in a coffee shop where he was handing out flyers for his start-up catering business. Today he looks healthy; he works out and stays in shape.
“When I was using it was a like distraction, right? And my anxiety kind of took over and it became a compulsion, and so now, I just have a lot of time and I don’t enjoy wasting my time,” he said.
Andrews, like many formerly imprisoned Alaskans, faces huge obstacles finding a job and good housing.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Alaska was ranked as one of the top 10 states for illicit drug use in 2010-11. According to the survey, 13.65% of Alaska residents reported using illicit drugs in the past month at the time it was taken. The national average was 8.82%.
Additionally, Megan Edge of the ACLU of Alaska said Alaska’s high rate of recidivism is about 66%. Alaska defines recidivism as returning to custody within three years of release.
There are also societal barriers, which Andrews faces, that impede stability and reintegrating to society.
“Anybody with a felony on their record is going to face a lot more barriers,” Edge said.
One of those barriers is news coverage that vividly details a person’s crime and remains on the internet forever.
According to Anchorage nonprofit Victims for Justice, the conversation about life after prison should also include the victim.
“If someone is truly on a path to recovery and has the ability to be a meaningful participant in society again, then it’s important that there are those paths involved, and particularly for someone who may not be a violent offender where there isn’t concern in that area,” said Victoria Shanklin, executive director for Victims For Justice.
Victims for Justice is an organization that specializes in services to victims of violent crime outside of domestic violence and sexual assault.
“It’s really important that those who are impacted by the crime have a voice throughout the process and have a way to process what’s going on and heal,” Shanklin said. “Sometimes that’s more possible than others and it really just depends on the individual, it depends on the crime, and again in this case it appears he was not a violent offender. While acts are violating, and that has an impact on the victims, there is a difference there.”
Edge says that about 96% of the prison population will be released at some point over their lives.
“When we’re thinking about justice, a lot of the time what we’re really seeking is like, a level of accountability,” Edge said. “And so, does accountability look like punishment, or does accountability look like rehabilitating somebody so they become a productive member of our society?”
Andrews said his biggest struggle is finding someone who will give him a job.
“I have a masters in business and years of professional experience and can’t find a job that will hire me and pay me what I’m worth,” Andrews wrote via email. “If I didn’t have my criminal history I would be able to make 60-100k depending on where I live. It’s been a major struggle.”
Edge said there are national movements to stop prospective employers from asking people if they have been convicted of a felony.
Alaska’s News Source told Edge that some people say a person like Andrews who committed crimes should have to live with the consequences.
“I think about, like, what if I was defined for the rest of my life by my worst mistake, where would I be?” Edge said. “And I go back to this idea of accountability. So Kyle has been held accountable for what he has done, and what do we want as a community? Do we want to put him in a concrete warehouse with four white walls to stare at for the rest of his life, where we pay about $150 a day for him to just sort of exist, or do we want Kyle to be back in the community contributing to our economy, contributing to our community in a positive way?”
Andrews said it’s unfortunate his actions impacted others.
“But what I can do is I can talk about those things and help other people realize it can be better,” Andrews said.
Those new to the criminal justice system often wonder what a pre-trial conference is and what purpose it serves. Generally speaking, a pre-trial conference is a court hearing where a prosecutor and a defense attorney get together and discuss whether a case is going to go to trial or whether it can be resolved through a plea agreement.
Pre-trial conferences often take place in the weeks after a defendant is arraigned. A pre-trial conference may be held prior to trial in both civil and criminal cases.
A pretrial conference may be conducted for several reasons: (1) expedite disposition of the case, (2) help the court establish managerial control over the case, (3) discourage wasteful pretrial activities, (4) improve the quality of the trial with thorough preparation, and (5) facilitate a settlement of the case.
Oftentimes, the prosecutor will have provided the defense with all the relevant documents and police reports ahead of a pre-trial conference so that the two can have a meaningful conversation. If not, police reports or other information will generally be provided to the defense attorney at the pre-trial conference, and a second court date will be scheduled where the defense will have to decide whether or not they will accept the prosecutor’s settlement offer or instead want to proceed to trial.
If the two sides do reach an agreement, it’s possible in some cases (especially those involving less serious misdemeanor charges) to resolve the case at the pre-trial conference. In such cases a judge will permit the defendant to enter a plea and will sentence him or her at that time. In more serious cases, where additional time is needed to prepare sentencing arguments, the court will generally schedule a plea and sentencing hearing for a later date.
Victims for Justice supports Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s efforts to get Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, also known as VAWA.
Murkowski (R-AK) and a group of bipartisan senators, including Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), reached a framework in December to reauthorize VAWA, a landmark piece of legislation signed in 1994 that provides critical resources for domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault survivors. The law hasn’t been fully reauthorized since 2013. It was temporarily reauthorized in January 2019 in a short-term spending bill, but the law lapsed a month later.
The framework agreement Murkowski and the bipartisan group reached includes provisions that strengthen rape prevention and education efforts and services and protections for young survivors, closes a so-called dating partner loophole, and includes an Alaska pilot program to empower a limited number of Tribes to exercise special criminal jurisdiction over certain crimes that occur in Alaska Native villages.
The pilot program would allow Tribes who exercise this special jurisdiction to charge defendants with crimes that co-occur with DV, such as violence against children or assault on law enforcement.
The framework expands criminal jurisdiction to tribal courts to cover non-Native perpetrators of sexual violence and other crimes. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, VAWA would help lower Alaska’s shockingly high rates of DV and sexual assault, supporters say.
“The rates of violence experienced by Alaska Natives are particularly horrific and statistics should shock us all. I repeat them a lot and they still shock me. According to a report prepared by the Indian Law and Order Commission, Alaska Native women are overrepresented – by nearly 250 percent – among female domestic violence victims,” Murkowski said during a speech in December.
Alaska faces an ongoing epidemic of violence “which has left long-lasting trauma for too many of our women, children, and families. We will not allow survivors and the needs of the most vulnerable to go unmet,” she said.
The House passed a VAWA reauthorization bill in March. Supporters of VAWA reauthorization are urging their senators to act, noting that since the pandemic began, many victims and survivors of DV and sexual assault have faced increased economic instability and threats to their physical safety and mental health.
Golda Ingram is a new advocate at Victims for Justice. She was hired last fall and moved to Anchorage from Dillingham with her family to start the position, providing serves directly to innocent victims of violent crime. Golda took time for a brief interview so our readers and clients can get to know her. What follows are excerpts:
Q: How long have you lived in Alaska?
A: I am a Yup’ik and Aleut, Danish and Irish descendant. I was born and raised in Dillingham, Alaska. Bristol Bay has always been home.
Q: Have you lived outside the state?
A: I’ve lived in Salem, Oregon; Eielsen Air Force Base; Stanwood, Washington; and Milton, Florida. Of all, my favorite place is Washington.
Q: What is your professional background and why did you choose that career path?
A: I gained experience in the field of family social services through employment as the Tribal Victims Services Response Coordinator at the Bristol Bay Native Association. My history also includes working primarily with women and children who were victims of sexual assault and domestic violence through employment with Bristol Bay’s SAFE and Fear Free Environment. In light of Covid 19, I decided to complete a Paralegal Certificate Completion Program through the Center for Legal Studies in collaboration with California State University, Monterey Bay. I graduated in the spring of 2021.
Q: Why did you decide you wanted to work for VFJ?
A: I appreciate the groundwork that Victims For Justice is able to provide for clients and our ability to assist navigating through the criminal justice system is what makes VFJ stand out.
Q: What do you like most about this work?
A: I enjoy the trust this work and organization require. Although we may each have different experiences, as a Crime Victim Advocate we are trained to assist our clients in identifying and addressing their individual needs whether that’s providing a compassionate ear, answering crime questions, navigating through the criminal justice system and offering an array of community social services tailored specifically by VFJ’s Advocates.
Q: What do you hope to accomplish during your time at VFJ?
A: I hope to accomplish a well-rounded career path geared towards community support to help vulnerable Alaskans identify their immediate needs to help restore justice and overall safety in our community.
Q: How do you fill your free time?
A: I am a working mother of two. My oldest is 17 and my youngest is 2. As the weather warms, I plan to find new favorite parks and hiking trails and beaches to explore in Southcentral Alaska.
Linda Sheldon Skeek went missing in Anchorage on New Year’s Day 2016. She has never been found and is presumed to be a homicide victim. Linda is one of an unknown number of missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP) in Alaska. Victims for Justice (VFJ) assisted Linda’s maternal family after she disappeared and during the trial of Linda’s husband. This video tells Linda’s story through interviews with her mother, aunt and stepfather and with VFJ lead advocate Michelle Evans. It explores the scope of the MMIP crisis in Alaska and steps being taken to address it. Besides Linda’s family and Evans, the video also contains interviews with Ingrid Cumberlidge, MMIP Coordinator for Alaska; Charlene Aqpik Apok, executive director of Data for Indigenous Justice; and Victoria Shanklin, executive director of VFJ. The video was shot and produced in 2021 by Vim Pneuma Media.
After nearly four years without a children’s grief program in Alaska, the state is poised to get one.
Forget Me Not Grief Center of Alaska is opening next month. Starting in January 2022, Forget Me Not Grief Center will begin holding grief support groups for children ages 6 – 17. Adult groups will also take place.
These peer-driven support services are offered free of change and are geared toward children, teens, and families who are grieving the death of loved ones.
If you are interested in learning more, email forgetmenot.griefcenter@gmail.com or check out their website. Volunteers are needed. They complete 15 hours of training and commit to at least one year of service. This is approximately 3 1/2 hours, twice a month.
The vast majority of violent crimes in Alaska in 2020 were aggravated assaults, about 69 percent of the total.
That lines up with national statistics too. According to the FBI’s annual data, aggravated assault is the most common violent crime in the U.S. It’s also the most likely to be reported to law enforcement.
What is an aggravated assault?
It’s defined as an attack or attempted attack with a weapon, regardless of whether an injury occurred, and an attack without a weapon when serious injury results. Serious injury includes broken bones, lost teeth, internal injuries, loss of consciousness, and any unspecified injury requiring two or more days of hospitalization.
To be threatened by a weapon means the perpetrator has threated or attempted to attack a victim with a gun, knife or any other object that could potentially inflict a serious of fatal injury.
Assaults may be classified as aggravated or simple. Factors that can raise a simple assault to an aggravated one include the use of a weapon, the type of victim, the perpetrator’s intent, and the degree of the victim’s injuries.
A total of 4,215 aggravated assaults were reported in Alaska in 2020, according to the Department of Public Safety. Some 8,791 cases of simple assault were also reported. Simple assault includes all assaults that do not involve use of a gun, knife, cutting instrument, or other dangerous weapon and in which the victim does not sustain serious or aggravated injuries.
As daylight grows shorter and the holidays approach, the winter season can be a difficult time for those who have lost a loved one to homicide. That’s one of the reasons why Survivors of Homicide Victims Awareness Month (SHVAM) is marked every year from Nov. 20 to Dec. 20.
Every year, SHVAM is held in communities across the nation to draw attention to the traumatic impacts of homicide on families and individuals, and to amplify the voices of survivors of homicide victims.
The Anchorage Assembly and Mayor Dave Bronson have officially recognized Survivors of Homicide Awareness Month (SHVAM) with a resolution passed unanimously at the December 7 Assembly meeting.
The resolution notes that 48 homicides occurred in Alaska last year. Eighteen of them happened in Anchorage.
Losing a loved one to homicide is one of the most traumatic events a person can experience and the impacts are deep and wide ranging.
“Homicide victims are loved and grieved by mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, partners, grandparents, aunts, uncles, extended family members, friends, neighbors, classmates, colleagues, and communities across the country,” the resolution says.
It calls on Anchorage community members to respond to all “families suffering in the aftermath of a homicide with compassion and support services.”
“To all surviving family members of homicide victims in Anchorage, you are not alone. Your community joins you in your pain and offers empathy,” the resolution concludes.
If you wish to support services to the survivors of Alaska homicide victims, especially during SHVAM 2021, there’s a button on our website’s home page where you can donate. It’s also here. Thank you for your generous support.
If you have become the victim of a violent crime, you likely have questions about how to navigate the criminal justice process, and whether you need to have legal representation. Like many aspects of the court system, it can be complex and confusing. Here we try to break it down for you with answers to some basic questions.
One of the first things to know is that if the person who harmed you or a loved one is being prosecuted, the act they committed is considered a crime against the law, and not a crime against you as an individual. It’s the government’s responsibility (whether it’s the state, city, municipality, or federal government) to provide a legal team to handle the criminal case against the defendant(s).
These lawyers are called prosecutors. Their job is to present the case in a criminal trial against an individual accused of breaking the law.
Prosecutors who work for the state are called district attorneys. Some cities or municipalities have their own prosecutors. Prosecuting attorneys represent the state or the community with the goal of protecting the community from further harm.
Below are common questions you may have and basic answers. If the information you are seeking is not here, please contact Victims for Justice and ask to speak with a victim advocate. You might also reach out the Alaska Office of Victims’ Rights (OVR), a state agency that provides free legal representation to crime victims to ensure that their rights are respected.
(Note: For ease of understanding and consistency in legal language, this article uses the term “victim.” This term may be used to describe a survivor who has been directly impacted by a violent crime or the surviving family members of a homicide victim.)
Q: Can I press charges against the person who harmed me or hire a lawyer to press charges?
A: No. Only the government can file criminal charges against a person in Alaska. In some states, limited private prosecution is possible for some low-level crimes.
Q: Does the prosecutor represent me, the victim of violent crime?
A: No. The prosecutor represents the government and/or the community where the crime occurred. The only parties to the case are the prosecution and the defense. The victim is not a party.
Q: Since the prosecutor doesn’t represent me, how do I make my voice heard?
A: Generally speaking, the prosecutor and you may have the same goals: jail time, restitution or maybe probation. But sometimes, goals differ. As a victim, you have rights that ensure your voice is heard. If you feel your rights have been violated, contact the Office of Victims’ Rights (OVR).
Alaska is currently the only state that has a government-run office of victims’ rights attorneys dedicated to protecting the rights of victims. If OVR takes your case, one of their lawyers can file an entry of appearance and make arguments on your behalf at no charge to you.
Keep in mind that OVR attorneys are limited to protecting your victim rights. Sometimes, victims want their victims’ rights attorney to do something they do not have the power to do. For example, you and the OVR attorney do not have the right to block a plea agreement, see evidence, submit evidence, file charges, drop charges, or do many other things that the prosecution or defense teams can.
Q: Are there other instances where it might help to have my own attorney?
A: If you suffered financial and/or emotional losses, you may consider hiring a private attorney to file a civil lawsuit. In a civil lawsuit, you might gain financial compensation from the defendant. In this type of lawsuit, you cannot charge the defendant with a crime or have them put in jail. If you are interested in speaking to a lawyer about suing the defendant, contact the Alaska Bar Association Lawyer Referral Line They can be reached at 1-800-770-9999. In some instances, especially high-profile cases, it may also be to your advantage to hire an attorney to handle media interactions.
By Patrick Enslow
Published: Dec. 3, 2021 at 9:05 AM AKST
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Dec. 2 is a difficult day for Nancy Furlow and her family as they remember the passing of Brandon Irlmeier, who died on that date in 2017 at the age of 20.
Every year they remember Irlmeier’s life by visiting a memorial at the base of a covered staircase on East Sixth Avenue, where he was killed. The family uses this time to honor Irlmeier and share things they wish they could tell him about what’s going on in their lives.
“We’re going to keep working hard to bring attention to your case,” Furlow said as she spoke to his memorial. “So that those responsible for killing you are brought to justice. We know you deserve that much.”
The Anchorage Police Department shared little details about Irlmeier’s case and said it’s an ongoing investigation, but Furlow, Irlmeier’s grandmother, said she has seen nothing in the case change since the initial leads following his death four years ago, including finding those responsible for his death.
It’s been difficult for Irlmeier’s family to visit the memorial, made more challenging by vandalism. They said it’s been targeted 20 to 30 times since they put it up.
“They put a bullet in there one time, in the flowers, and we felt like they were trying to just kill Brandon all over again,” Furlow said.
She added prior attempts to vandalize the memorial include ripping down wreaths, dousing it with fire accelerants and ripping up pictures and cards.
Anyone with information about this case should call 311 or Crime Stoppers (907-561-STOP) to remain anonymous.
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