Jurors hear rap song recorded by suspected police shooter

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Jurors in the trial of an Alaska man charged with killing a Fairbanks police officer heard a profanity-laden rap song composed by the suspect that prosecutors say gives a motive for the shooting.

Anthony Jenkins-Alexie, 31, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the Oct. 16, 2016, shooting of police Sgt. Allen Brandt, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Wednesday.

In the song, Jenkins-Alexie, make a reference to a friend, James Richards, who was fatally shot by a Fairbanks police officer seven weeks earlier, and tells him to rest in peace.

“You know I got ’em back,” Jenkins-Alexie says in the song.

Deputy district attorney Joe Dallaire said there the rap song was admissible as evidence for multiple reasons.

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“It shows intent, that this was an intentional act. It shows a motive,” Dallaire said. “Clearly, this rap song boasts that he did this out of vengeance.”

Prosecutors have said Jenkins-Alexie lured police into an ambush because he wanted revenge.

Defence attorney Justin Racette, a public defender, contends that Jenkins was too intoxicated the night of the shooting to form intent to kill Brandt.

Brandt on the night of the shooting responded in his patrol car to calls of shots fired and a man yelling.

Brandt’s dashboard camera records the patrol car slowing as a Jenkins-Alexie approaches on the sidewalk. Seconds later, the video shows Jenkins-Alexie gripping a silver handgun with both hands running around the front of the car. Six shots struck Brandt.

Brandt survived the shooting but died 12 days later after surgery to remove shrapnel that lodged in his eye.

Racette objected to jurors hearing the rap song and said it was irrelevant.

Jenkins-Alexie in the song said he’s “facing murder for clapping Sgt. Brandt. ” He used racial epithets, referred to Brandt as a “punk,” called Brandt’s wife a derogatory name and asked her in the lyrics if she’d be his “boo,” or girlfriend.

Superior Court Judge Michael McConahy noted Racette’s objections but allowed the rap song to be played for the jury Tuesday.

Richards, the friend of Jenkins-Alexie, was fatally shot by a Fairbanks police officer Aug. 30, 2016. Richards was carrying a gun and appeared to be holding an elderly man hostage.

The officer who killed him was cleared after an investigation by the state Office of Special Prosecutions.

Prosecutors wrapped up their case Tuesday. The defence called no witnesses. Closing arguments were scheduled for Wednesday.

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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com

The Associated Press