Anchorage man pleads guilty in 2015 Eagle River shooting that killed 1, injured 2

An Anchorage man pleaded guilty Monday in Superior Court to a March 2015 shooting on a secluded road high above Eagle River that left a woman dead and two men injured.

Prosecutors said James Andrew Baker, 34, pleaded guilty to one count each of first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with the shooting, which killed 56-year-old June Mary McCarr. She was found dead in a car near the intersection of Barclay Drive and Brownie Drive on the morning of March 8, 2015.

According to a Monday statement from the Anchorage district attorney's office, Baker had driven himself and five other people to the location on the Eagle River hillside before getting out of the car and firing a gun at the packed vehicle.

"Four of the passengers were able to flee, but McCarr died in the vehicle," prosecutors wrote. Two other passengers were critically injured in the shooting.

Baker was picked up after several 911 calls reporting "suspicious pedestrians" walking along Eagle River Road, and after he himself called 911 to report his vehicle stolen in a "Chinese fire drill."

During an interview with police, Baker "made various statements, including that an 'angel' threw the gun away after the shooting," according to an affidavit filed shortly after the incident.

As part of his plea deal, Baker admitted to the murder of McCarr and the attempted murder of the four other passengers; the four attempted murder charges he faced were consolidated into a single count as part of the deal, said Assistant District Attorney Christina Sherman.

Baker faces a sentence of 25 to 80 years in prison under the terms of the deal. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 19.