‘They took my girl’s life’: Family of teen girl killed by Anchorage police demands answers
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Easter Leafa turned 16 this past July. That day, her family gathered around to celebrate the occasion with a white cake covered in colorful sprinkles and big golden numbers on top.
She wore a dress with little white flowers and posed for pictures.
Tuesday night, Leafa was shot and killed by Anchorage police, less than a month after that Sweet Sixteen celebration — the same week she was going to start her junior year of high school at Bettye Davis East High.
“They took my girl’s life,” her mother, also named Easter Leafa, told Alaska’s News Source on Wednesday morning.
According to APD, the shooting happened around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday when police were called to the Greenbriar Apartments off Tudor Road.
The caller said her sister, Easter, was threatening her and had a knife.
According to Anchorage Police Chief Sean Case, when officers arrived at the apartment, they commanded Leafa to drop the knife, which she didn’t.
Case said around this point, one officer fired multiple times at Leafa and another officer fired a “less lethal projectile.”
Case explained that Leafa began to approach officers when they made the decision to fire at her.
Easter’s family says she and her mother moved to Anchorage four or five months ago from American Samoa to join an extended family network of aunts, cousins, sisters and uncles. They were excited about her starting her junior year at East and they described Easter as a quiet person who loved to sing and be with her nieces and nephews.
“Just a 16-year-old [who] came to the U.S. looking for a good school and a future and now she’s gone,” her sister Faialofa Dixon said.
It all started, according to Easter’s older sister Rosalie Tialavea, after an additional sister called police claiming that Easter “came at her and hit her with the knife.”
They say before police arrived, Easter retreated to a balcony and covered herself with a blanket.
When police arrived, according to the family, one officer already had his gun out. They say they were told to get in a room for their safety and the safety of the officers. An aunt says she tried to run outside to talk with Easter from below the balcony when the shots were fired.
“At this point, we want justice because that was not right,” Dixon said. “She was a minor, they should have asked questions when they came in. Instead, they came in ready, looking like they were ready to [shoot] her down.”
The family says officers started CPR and took her to the hospital. They say they still don’t know where her body is and weren’t told Easter had died until around 4 a.m. on Wednesday.
“Me, as the mom, I feel so sorry for my daughter,” the elder Easter Leafa said.
The family says police wouldn’t let them speak with Easter to try and attempt to calm the situation down before the shooting.
“She’s not a social person. We could talk to her, she would drop it, and she would be back to herself in minutes,” Rosalie Tialavea said. “But he denied us. So them going at her like that, and she doesn’t know that much, she just moved here, it’s very different here than it is back home.”
The family says police thought Easter was 19 and asked few questions.
“We want justice for our sister, and we need answers,” Dixon said. “We need that body cam they had. No cuts. Full camera. Full videos. This is very heartbreaking, not only for us but our sisters and our mom who witnessed the whole thing.”
This is the sixth officer-involved shooting in Anchorage this year.
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