On July 20, 2018, Black/African American woman Brittany Sparks, age 31, was shot inside an apartment on the 600 block of North Hoyt Street in Anchorage's Mountain View neighborhood. Police were called after the shooting was initially reported as an “accidental” discharge. Responding officers and medics found the 31-year-old female victim dead on the apartment floor. Local tributes and obituary notices soon identified her and marked the date of her death in Mountain View.
Detectives quickly focused on 36-year-old Clint Registe, who lived at the apartment. According to investigators and later federal court records, Registe admitted he had been handling a Mak-90 rifle when it fired, striking the 31-year-old female victim in the head. A neighbor heard the gunshot and entered the unit; Registe told him to call 911, said he intended to turn himself in, and then fled. Medics pronounced the 31-year-old female victim dead at the scene.
Anchorage Police obtained a felony arrest warrant for Registe on a state manslaughter charge tied to the 31-year-old female victim's July 20 death and circulated updated photos as the search widened. In September 2018, after a citizen tip, police located Registe and took him into custody on that manslaughter warrant. Police announcements documented the warrant and his remand to the Anchorage Jail.
While the state case moved forward, federal prosecutors charged Registe with being a felon in possession of a firearm uncovered during the homicide investigation. He ultimately pleaded guilty and, in 2020, received the maximum federal sentence of 10 years in prison. Federal filings again described the events of July 20, 2018: the handling of the Mak-90 rifle, the fatal head wound to the 31-year-old female victim, and Registe's flight before medics declared her dead.
