Patrice Patti Layou, 65, was found dead near her vehicle by the intersection of East 46th Avenue and Folker Street in Anchorage’s U-Med/Campbell Park area after residents reported multiple gunshots around 3 a.m. on October 10, 2021. Police described the death as a homicide and located her near a Subaru at the scene.

Investigators quickly focused on a family member. Officers detained 38-year-old Thomas Layou later that day in an apartment a short distance from the shooting. Charging documents and contemporaneous reports say he had been evaluated at the state psychiatric hospital about a week earlier and that there had been recent conflict between him and his mother. An Anchorage grand jury later indicted Thomas Layou on one count of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder; he was arraigned and held on $200,000 bail with a court-approved third-party custodian requirement.

Obituaries and memorial posts note Patrice Layou’s long ties to Anchorage and her decades of service with the Anchorage School District. Did anyone in the community know Patrice, her movements that night, or have information about the events leading up to the shooting?