Wasilla teen charged with murder says he blacked out during the crime

At the end of January, Gunnar Swan, a 19-year-old Wasilla teen, was shot in the back of the neck and died. Hours later, another area teen was arrested for the killing.

Jordan Flowers, 18 of Wasilla, was initially charged with manslaughter and assault, but later a murder charge was also filed against him.

Court documents shed more light on what happened. According to the charging documents, Flowers, Swan, and three others were in a Jeep Patriot at 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 27, when a shot was fired.

Witnesses in the car told Troopers Flowers was sitting directly behind Swan, and that they saw him put a handgun into the space between the seat and the headrest, and fire one shot.

That bullet passed through Swan's neck, through the windshield of the Jeep, and struck a building where the car was parked, investigators wrote.

The witnesses said they were afraid Flowers would to shoot them too, so they fled the scene, but later spoke to police.

Later that morning, by 7 a.m., Troopers interviewed Flowers, according to court documents.

Flowers told the investigators that due to drinking, he couldn't remember who shot Swan or what happened "after the gun went off."

He told investigators that he "blacked out" for a second.

Initially, Flowers was charged with manslaughter, and posted his bail, which was set at $100,000.

But Flowers was not released, and his bail was later increased due to the crime being elevated to first-degree murder, and what prosecutors say was Flowers' history of crimes similar to the killing of Swan.

The attorney prosecuting his case said Flowers held a loaded gun to his mother's head in 2016 and threatened to pull the trigger.

Due to the murder charge, the previous gun threat on his mother, and the fact that Flowers would be slated to return to his parents' house if he were released on bail, prosecutors asked for the bail amount to be increased. His bail was then set at $500,000.

Flowers is now charged with first-degree murder, manslaughter, and assault. His next court hearing is scheduled to take place on March 21.