Do you know who murdered Timothy Smith? Black/African American male Timothy Smith, age 39, stepped into the first minutes of the new year in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, and into danger he could not see. Just after 12:16 a.m. on January 1, 2018, gunfire erupted near West Fourth Avenue and D Street, in the busy bar corridor by the Gaslight Lounge. Officers reached the scene to find the 39-year-old male mortally wounded; he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The killing marked Anchorage's first homicide of 2018, arriving less than an hour after midnight.
In the hours and weeks that followed, detectives appealed to the public for help, circulating images and details of a silver or gray Chevrolet TrailBlazer spotted in the area. The SUV was distinctive—missing the passenger-side half of its front bumper—and police asked anyone who recognized the vehicle or knew its occupants to come forward. The request underscored how little was immediately known about the shooter, even as the crime scene team combed Fourth Avenue and surrounding blocks for clues from the chaotic holiday night.
The break came later. After pursuing new tips and building out leads, Anchorage homicide detectives identified a suspect and made an arrest. On March 29, 2019, police announced that they had taken 34-year-old Quennel Avery into custody. Investigators said Avery had been the driver of the vehicle and the shooter that night; prosecutors charged him with murder in the first degree and murder in the second degree. The department publicly credited community members who stepped forward with information, saying those tips were pivotal to resolving the case and moving it into the courts.
From the first midnight calls to the arrest more than a year later, the investigation moved from a frantic search for a fleeing SUV to a named suspect facing murder charges. In official accounts that identified the 39-year-old male by name and age, the outline of the case remained stark: a celebratory downtown moment cut short by sudden gunfire, a plea for witnesses, and, eventually, the arrest of the man police say pulled the trigger.
