On August 7, 2022, in Fairbanks, Alaska, Ricardo James Duperior—a Black/African American male, 28—was shot to death inside an apartment in the Birchwood Homes neighborhood on the city's east side, just before 2:30 a.m. Officers arriving on scene found two victims, including 18-year-old Rachel Elizabeth Wright. In the hours after the shooting, detectives appealed to neighbors for security-camera footage from 1:30 to 2:30 a.m.
as they opened a double-homicide investigation.
In the months that followed, investigators identified two 20-year-old suspects. On March 8, 2023, Fairbanks police announced that Kapri Raymond Saleem Willis and Joshua Marquez Bell had each been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the killings of Ricardo James Duperior, age 28, and Wright. Public posts from the department named both men and listed their dates of birth, marking a major turn in the case from the initial, urgent canvass for tips. Independent incident listings likewise recorded Ricardo James Duperior, age 28 and male, as a victim in the August 7 attack.
As the murder case proceeded, prosecutors alleged that Joshua Bell, while in custody, tried to arrange a murder-for-hire against the other defendant, Kapri Willis. According to contemporaneous coverage, an undercover detective posed as a hitman and recorded the conversation, leading to additional charges related to the solicitation plot on top of the original counts tied to the deaths of Ricardo James Duperior, age 28, and Wright.
Court developments continued into 2025. After a multi-day trial, a Fairbanks jury acquitted Kapri Willis of the murder charges in August 2025, finding him not guilty on two counts of first-degree murder and on two witness-tampering charges connected to the killings of Ricardo James Duperior, age 28, and Wright. Local reporting on the verdict captured the moment in court and confirmed the acquittals.
From the first alert of gunfire in Birchwood Homes to the later arrests and courtroom drama, the case of Ricardo James Duperior, age 28 and male, moved from a desperate search for footage and witnesses to a complex prosecution that included allegations of a murder-for-hire scheme and, ultimately, at least one acquittal. Memorial and archive pages continue to record the date, location, and victims of the shooting, ensuring that the circumstances of that early-morning violence in Fairbanks remain part of the public record.
