Napaskiak 19-year-old charged with murder in shooting death

A 19-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a man in Napaskiak on Sunday morning, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Troopers said Adam Williams of Napaskiak shot and killed Kyle Wassillie, 26, of Nunapitchuk.

The shooting happened around 8:20 a.m. Sunday, inside a home owned by a Williams family member, according to a charging document signed by Trooper Z. Huckstep and filed in court Monday.

When a village public safety officer responded to the house for the reported shooting, a 9-year-old boy came outside and said his older brother had shot someone, according to the charging document.

The officer found Wassillie with a gunshot wound, lying in the home's entryway. He was unresponsive and breathing shallowly, the charges said.

A single spent cartridge lay on the floor near Wassillie and a black rifle leaned against the kitchen table, according to the charges. Two empty vodka bottles were found in the house, charges said.

The village officer handcuffed Williams, who was "passed out drunk" on the couch, and another man in a bedroom, according to the charges. Neither woke up, "because they were intoxicated," charges said.

Health aides were unable to revive Wassillie and he died at 9:35 a.m., the charges said.

Trooper Huckstep traveled to Napaskiak by boat from Bethel on Sunday to investigate the shooting, according to the charges.

Huckstep interviewed Napaskiak residents and witnesses who told him that Wassillie, Williams and two others were drinking early Sunday at Williams' home, the charges said.

Williams and Wassillie got into a fight, according to the charges. Troopers said both men were "reportedly intoxicated."

Huckstep said the 9-year-old and a neighbor told him Williams had shot a man twice, charges said.

Williams, one of those who was handcuffed, told Huckstep the last thing he remembered was listening to music on his speakers, the charges said.

"Adam (Williams) told me 'I got really drunk and blacked out,' " Huckstep said in the charging document. "Upon further questioning, Adam simply said it didn't matter how many times I asked him, he just couldn't remember what happened."

Williams was arrested on a first-degree murder charge and taken to jail in Bethel for the shooting death of Wassillie, who worked as a village police officer in nearby Nunapitchuk.

Wassillie was off duty over the weekend, according to Roman Daniel, chief of police in Nunapitchuk.

In an interview Tuesday, Daniel described Wassillie as a "jokester" who loved the outdoors.

"He always had something quick and witty to say," Daniel said. "Especially if you were going through something hard, he always put a smile on your face."

Daniel said Wassillie would be buried in his police uniform, at his family's request.

Lisa Demer contributed reporting to this story.