On December 10, 2017, in a small apartment near downtown Anchorage, a Black/African American male, Devan McDonald, age 22, was shot and killed. Investigators later described how the violence followed an impromptu birthday gathering at the residence on East 9th Avenue; McDonald had retreated to bed when a gunman opened fire into the bedroom. Medics and police could not save him, and the address—listed publicly as 618 E.
9th Avenue—became another grim marker in a year of record-setting homicides for the city.
Detectives quickly focused on a suspect: 20-year-old Kuach Chuol Kuach. An arrest warrant went out, and the next day officers traced him to a home on Juneau Street. What followed was an hours-long standoff, with tactical units surrounding the house until Kuach surrendered without further injury. Records of the case also note that he was taken into custody unharmed.
The case moved through Alaska's courts over several years. In July 2023, a jury convicted Kuach of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, and misconduct involving weapons. Prosecutors said evidence showed he had tried to get rid of the firearm after the shooting; the weapon was later turned over to police.
In December 2024, Superior Court Judge Michael Wolverton imposed an 85-year prison sentence, followed by a lengthy term of probation, closing the prosecution in the killing of Devan McDonald, age 22. Official statements from the State of Alaska emphasized the gravity of the crime and the years of work by Anchorage detectives and prosecutors that led from the arrest after the barricade to conviction and sentence.
