(Anchorage, AK) – Today, 25-year-old Anthony Lee Herring of Anchorage was sentenced by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby for the murder of Jaclyn Welcome and shooting of four other people in Anchorage on June 19, 2021.
The evidence shows on the day of June 18, 2021, Anthony Herring had a verbal altercation with a group of individuals congregating behind Kline’s Tesoro in Anchorage. Herring was an employee of the gas station. In the early morning hours of June 19, 2021, a male fired a handgun while with a group of people behind the gas station. Several seconds later, Herring fired approximately 16 shots from an AR-15 rifle at the group of people. Herring was parked in his truck across Gambell Street in a parking lot with his girlfriend. Welcome was shot and killed. Four other people were injured, though not the male that fired the handgun. Herring claimed self-defense.
Herring pled guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one consolidated count of Assault in the First Degree in May 2024. The court accepted the parties’ agreement and sentenced Herring to serve a composite sentence of 35 years and 1 day with 10 years suspended.
At sentencing, several family members spoke in support of Ms. Welcome and expressed their disagreement with the sentence. The majority of criminal cases in Alaska resolve via plea negotiations. The State seeks input from crime victims prior to plea negotiations and gives great consideration to that input. Ultimately the State determines what offer to extend or accept after carefully weighing the strength of the evidence in the case, the input from crime victims, potential defenses, and risks associated with trial.
Herring is currently in the custody of the Alaska Department of Corrections.
