A 43-year-old Native American female, Kimora Buster, lay motionless on the floor of her Palmer, Alaska, home on November 30, 2020. The early morning stillness was shattered by a cascade of violence that had already begun elsewhere. At around 3 a.m., in Wasilla, an 18-year-old cousin, Cody Roehl, had been gunned down. Moments later, law enforcement responded to reports of gunfire at the Buster residence in Palmer and found Kimora, her 7-year-old son Ellison, and her 10-year-old daughter Sienna all fatally wounded. A third young child present, identified only as AB, had miraculously escaped injury despite evidence suggesting the shooter had attempted to kill that child as well.
The suspect, 18-year-old Malachi Maxon, was closely related to his victims and had been living with them in the days leading up to the tragedy. Investigators believe he first shot Cody Roehl at the Wasilla residence before seizing a white Jeep and a semiautomatic Glock pistol, fleeing the scene and driving to Palmer.
Arriving at the Palmer home shortly after 3:30 a.m., Maxon reportedly broke in through a basement window. Responding officers discovered Kimora dead on the floor and her two young children in their beds—Ellison already dead, Sienna gravely wounded and later declared dead at the hospital; the third child in the bed, AB, remained unharmed though the crime scene showed multiple defective bullet fragments suggesting at least an attempt had been made on the child's life.
Within the hour, troopers apprehended Maxon without incident on the Glenn Highway, driving the stolen Jeep. During transit, he allegedly tried to flee and attempted to grab a trooper's firearm but was subdued and taken into custody.
Court documents revealed that Maxon had recently been released from custody—less than a week earlier—after arrest for domestic violence. He had been under pretrial electronic monitoring at the time of the shootings.
He faces an array of charges: multiple counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder, assault on a law enforcement officer, attempted escape, and theft. The motive remains obscured, with investigators noting that there appeared to have been no prior interaction or conflict detectable between Maxon and his victims before the violence unfolded.
Thus unfolded the heartbreaking story of the death of the 43-year-old female Kimora Buster—and her two young children—in the early dawn of November 30, 2020, alongside the fatal wounding of one cousin and a deadly attempt on another.
