A 22-year-old Anchorage man was jailed on murder charges Monday in connection with a fatal shooting Saturday in Midtown, police said.
Brent Avery Smith is accused of killing 30-year-old Julian Francis Jr. next to the indoor swimming pool at the Hyatt House hotel in Midtown, according to charging documents filed in the case.
The motive behind the shooting remained unclear, according to a sworn affidavit filed with the charges.
Police were called to the Hyatt House, near West International Airport Road and C Street, just after 8:30 a.m. Saturday because a man had been shot, according to the affidavit signed by Detective Jade Barker.
First responders found Francis on the floor of the swimming pool room with a single gunshot wound to his chest, Barker wrote. He died at the scene.
A group of friends, including Francis, had stayed in one of the hotel’s rooms Friday night, the affidavit said.
They moved to the pool room around 7:30 a.m. Saturday and Smith joined around that time, Barker wrote. Smith only knew one person in the group, the affidavit said.
Witnesses told police the group spent about an hour in the pool area before Smith, who went by the name Jakota, pulled out a handgun and shot Francis, then fled the area, according to the affidavit.
“It is unclear at this time what provoked the attack,” Barker wrote.
Police reviewed security footage and identified a vehicle seen fleeing from the area as belonging to Smith, the charges said. Police asked the public for help locating him and he was taken into custody Saturday night following a traffic stop.
Smith is facing charges of first- and second-degree murder and is being held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex on $750,000 bail.