Child found safe following Amber Alert, police standoff; suspect indicted on murder charges

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - An infant for whom an Amber Alert was issued has been located safe following an hours-long standoff with Anchorage police.

The 8-month-old child has been identified as Ahmiri Chaney, and the reported suspect in the abduction is 23-year-old Eric Chaney Jr., who is the child’s father. Chaney was arrested following the standoff. Chaney was charged on Feb 18. with first-degree and second-degree murder and is being held at the Anchorage Jail on $200,000 bail.

On Feb. 27, Chaney was indicted on the murder charges, as well as a charge of fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance. He faces up to 99 years for the murder charges, as well as five years for the misconduct involving a controlled substance charge. He is scheduled to be arraigned on March 1.

Anchorage police were initially called to a residence in the area of East 12th Avenue and Norman Street at 8:57 a.m. on Friday regarding a homicide. Inside the residence, they found 22-year-old Stephanie Morales dead with a gunshot wound to the head, according to a news release from Anchorage police.

According to charging documents, Chaney shared the apartment with Morales for several months. Surveillance footage showed Chaney leaving the apartment on the afternoon of Feb. 13 The documents show Chaney then moved into his uncle and aunt’s house near 6000 Moore Lane. According to family members, Chaney had been acting strange while staying with them. Court documents show Chaney was “talking to himself, talking to the baby as if the baby understood,” and that Chaney refused to let anyone touch or see the baby.

Shortly after the Amber Alert went out on the afternoon of Feb. 17, Chaney’s aunt reported to police that he was staying at their house.

Later that day, APD special operations teams arrived at the home. Police units that responded to the scene included the Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT), Crisis Negotiation Team, and Tactical Support Unit.

Shortly after 10 p.m., a person wearing camouflage clothing was seen exiting a building with the child in his arms, who was heard crying moments later. Chaney was apprehended without incident and the baby was recovered by APD.

The Amber Alert is one of the very few that have been sent by Alaska law enforcement.

“When Amber Alerts are sent, APD sends a request. We don’t actually send the Amber Alerts, and so when we do request it, we are exhausting all leads, all efforts to locate the child and then when those efforts are exhausted, then we move forward with publishing Amber Alerts and more in requesting public’s help and locating the child,” Anchorage Police Community Relations Director Sunny Guerin said. “In the past two years, this is the first one that we’ve issued in Anchorage.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the child’s first name is spelled Ahmiri. The Alaska Amber Alert System originally spelled the child’s name Amira.

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