A 23-year-old Black/African American male, Amona Sam of Anchorage, Alaska, was killed on the evening of September 9, 2025, after a confrontation in the Spenard neighborhood spilled into the common area of a residence on the 1300 block of West 26th Avenue. Police were called at 7:33 p.m. and arrived to find the 23-year-old male suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper body; medics pronounced him dead at the scene. Two days later, on September 11, authorities publicly identified the victim as 23-year-old Amona Sam.
Detectives interviewed witnesses and pieced together a sequence that began as an altercation between two men who knew each other and ended when, according to investigators, a 20-year-old produced a firearm and fired the fatal shot before leaving the area. The man police identified as the shooter, 20-year-old Matthew Siavalua, later contacted investigators and turned himself in. He was remanded at the Anchorage Correctional Complex on one count of second-degree murder.
In the days that followed, police maintained the timeline while confirming the arrest and the charged offense. Community memorial listings recorded the loss of 23-year-old male Amona Sam on September 9, 2025, tying his death to the Spenard shooting and reflecting the mourning of friends and family. Local coverage also noted the charging decision while initially withholding the victim's name until next-of-kin notification, which police completed before releasing the identity.
