Anchorage man who shot into crowd, killing woman and injuring 4, sentenced to 25 years in prison

An Anchorage man was sentenced Thursday to spend 25 years in prison for killing a woman and wounding four people when he shot into a crowd at a gas station near downtown in June 2021.

Anthony Lee Herring, 25, pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder and four counts of first-degree assault, which were combined into a single charge for sentencing as part of a plea agreement that resulted in the dismissal of first-degree murder charges.

The gunfire killed 37-year-old Jaclyn Welcome, who was part of a group of homeless people standing near Fourth Avenue and Gambell Street. Herring, who worked at the gas station, was captured on video arguing with homeless people in a nearby lot the day before.

At the time, the violence was described by former police chief Ken McCoy as the city’s first mass shooting — involving four or more people — in his 36 years with the department.

During Thursday’s sentencing hearing, Welcome’s family and friends asked Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby not to accept the plea agreement because the sentence was too light.

Welcome was in “the wrong place at the wrong time” when Herring opened fire, her older sister Desiree Montenegro told the judge.

Her sister didn’t deserve to die and it is unfair for Herring to serve only 25 years for killing her and seriously wounding so many others, Montenegro said. She asked the judge to sentence Herring to 99 years in prison — the maximum penalty.

Welcome was a mother to six children, her family said. She struggled with mental health, addiction and had fallen into a toxic relationship that resulted in homelessness, but she wanted to change and reconnect with her family, they said.

Assistant public defender Lacey Brewster during Thursday’s hearing said she was also unhappy with the agreement, but urged Saxby to accept it as a middle ground reached by the state and defense that took into account the significant risk both sides may have faced at trial.

A day before the shooting, Herring argued with a group of homeless people and threatened them with a baseball bat outside the Cline’s Tesoro service station where he worked, charges filed in the case said. A video of the encounter circulated online after Herring’s arrest.

He returned to the area in his car during the early hours of June 19, 2021, armed with an AR-15 rifle, the charges said.

Surveillance footage of the scene showed that one person standing in the group outside the service station had pulled out a gun “and fired a shot into the air,” Brewster said.

Herring then opened fire at the crowd. Welcome was shot and died shortly afterward at a hospital. Four others were wounded, including one person who was shot in the head.

Saxby, in his sentencing remarks, said Herring was “suspiciously well-prepared to defend” himself as he returned to a location where he’d recently expressed anger toward a group of people.

Brewster said Herring fired at the group in self-defense after hearing the first gunshot.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to view Mr. Herring as some type of monster,” she said. “He was 21 years old in a circumstance where he heard gunshots and the fear of hearing gunfire is real fear, especially when you don’t know where it’s coming from.”

Assistant District Attorney Patrick McKay disagreed with Brewster’s claim that Herring acted in self-defense and said he didn’t believe rapidly firing roughly 25 bullets into a crowd of people would be seen by a jury as a reasonable response.

McKay said he believed the sentence likely would have been longer had Herring been convicted by a jury, but the state guaranteed a conviction in the case by agreeing to a plea deal.

Still, he said, he understood why the family felt it was unjust.

“I know that it’s difficult for families to accept the middle ground and I can’t say that I wouldn’t be in the same position, I wouldn’t be doing the same thing if I was in their position advocating for my loved one,” he said. “But we’re viewing this from an evidentiary position and recognizing that this is something that I think is an appropriate result given some of the evidentiary issues we would have had at trial.”

Herring on Thursday apologized to Welcome’s family and said he would work to better himself during his incarceration.

“There’s someone on camera that fired at me first and no one wants to bring that up,” he said. “I instinctively returned fire in fear for my life and my girlfriend’s life and tragically a few innocent people were struck in the crossfire. I hope that knowing this can help you bring closure and help you all try to forgive me one day.”

Herring’s mother expressed concern about the plea agreement, saying her son hadn’t seen all the evidence or had enough time to consider the offer. Saxby asked Herring a series of questions to ensure his plea was entered voluntarily.

The plea agreement includes a provision barring Herring from appealing the decision.

Herring was sentenced to 35 years in prison with 10 suspended for second-degree murder and 20 years with 13 suspended for the consolidated first-degree assault charge. He will serve the sentences concurrently in a 25-year term, followed by 10 years of probation.

Charges of first- and second-degree murder, attempted murder, misconduct involving weapons and tampering with evidence were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.