November 6, 2026
(Anchorage, AK) – On Nov. 6, 2026, an Anchorage jury found defendant Versace Armani Sperl, 28, guilty of Murder in the First Degree, two counts of Murder in the Second Degree, Manslaughter, and Tampering With Physical Evidence in the First Degree, all charges related to the 2023 slaying of 22-year-old Daishon Alex in front of 409 Mumford Street in Mountain View.
Evidence at trial showed that Sperl shot Mr. Alex in the head and back at approximately 12:17 p.m. on May 18, 2023. An eyewitness saw Sperl running from the spot where he’d just fired nine shots at Mr. Alex. That witness identified Sperl during an interview with police and from the witness stand during trial. Surveillance recordings identified Sperl’s car as the getaway vehicle. Later that evening, at Sperl’s direction, separately convicted co-defendants Faizon Murray, Brandon Johnson, and Kenneth Lavea decoyed APD surveillance units from Sperl’s car and then hid it in a nearby salvage yard. Sperl’s car was eventually recovered by police in August of 2023.
The State’s trial case also featured electronic evidence from Sperl’s mobile phone and location data from his mobile phone carrier’s records. These showed that minutes before the murder, Sperl received notifications that Mr. Alex was broadcasting live video on his social media account. Sperl’s phone then began moving in the direction of the murder and then after the murder it returned to his apartment building. The data showed his phone was present at the same times and locations that his car was recorded by surveillance cameras.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys C. Travis Atkinson and Nolan Gerlach of the Anchorage District Attorney’s Office, with the support of paralegal Daira Pico. The Anchorage Police Department Homicide Unit investigated the case.
Sentencing has been scheduled for April 2, 2027. Sentence will be imposed by the trial judge, the Hon. Jack McKenna of Anchorage Superior Court.
CONTACT: Assistant District Attorney C. Travis Atkinson at (907) 269-6300 or Travis.Atkinson@alaska.gov.
# # #
Department Media Contact: Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.
Due to resource constraints, we no longer post links to referenced records. Records filed in a federal court are readily available at Docket Search or PACER, and records filed in a State of Alaska court are readily available from the Alaska Court System (Trial Courts - Alaska Court System and Search for an Appellate Case). Contact Sam Curtis to request a referenced record that is not readily available from a court or on the internet, or contact law.recordsrequest@alaska.gov to submit a formal Alaska Public Records Act request.
