On the evening of August 9, 2017, 48-year-old Patricia Ann Phelps was walking along West 36th Avenue near Oregon Drive in the Spenard neighborhood of Anchorage when a confrontation involving gunfire prompted a vehicle to flee the scene. The vehicle accelerated, crashed through a fence, and struck Patricia, killing her from blunt force trauma. An autopsy later confirmed she had not been shot and investigators determined she was an innocent bystander.

Police found Patricia in the yard of a multiplex on the 1800 block of West 36th Avenue after multiple 8:58 p.m. calls reporting gunshots. Investigators say the shooting was tied to drug-related activity and released images of two people they wanted to question: one who left on a motorcycle and a potential witness who had been walking with Patricia shortly before the collision.

Evidence later developed linking two Anchorage men to the confrontation. Prosecutors allege the incident began with a dispute over drugs and property and that gunfire at a Toyota 4Runner led the driver to flee, unintentionally killing Patricia. Anyone who knew Patricia or who witnessed the confrontation or has surveillance footage from West 36th Avenue is asked to come forward.