Anchorage man guilty on all counts in 2023 killing

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - A jury found Versace Armani Sperl guilty on all five counts Friday in the 2023 shooting death of 22-year-old Daishon Alex in Anchorage’s Mountain View neighborhood.

Jurors began deliberating at 1 p.m. Thursday before returning their verdict Friday. Alex was killed on Mumford Street on May 18, 2023.

Sperl, 29, was found guilty of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence. The four homicide counts concern the same killing and involve different mental states under Alaska law, according to the amended indictment.

The first-degree murder count alleged that Sperl intentionally caused Alex’s death. One second-degree murder count alleged he knowingly engaged in conduct that caused a death under circumstances showing extreme indifference to human life. The other alleged he caused a death intending to cause serious physical injury or knowing his conduct was substantially certain to cause death or serious physical injury.

The manslaughter count alleged Sperl recklessly caused a death. The evidence-tampering count alleged he concealed, removed or otherwise interfered with physical evidence to impair its availability or reliability in an investigation or proceeding.

During opening statements, Assistant District Attorney Nolan Gerlach told jurors Sperl fired nine rounds at Alex while he was streaming on Instagram Live. Gerlach said the shooting followed an ongoing dispute between the two men.

The prosecutor also said Sperl enlisted friends to help dispose of his silver Chevy Malibu after the shooting. The car was later found at Northwest Auto Parts, Gerlach said.

Defense attorney Chong Yim argued the state’s case was circumstantial and that cell-tower data and traffic-camera footage did not establish who held Sperl’s phone or drove the car. The gun used in the shooting was not recovered, Gerlach said during opening statements.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 2, 2027.

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