Press Release

Andrew Eknaty and Carleigh Fox Plead Guilty to 2017 Burning of Royal Suites Lodge

May 16, 2024

(Anchorage, AK) – Today, 35-year-old Andrew John Eknaty, and 35-year-old Carleigh Kaye Fox, pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of three people and injuring numerous others in the 2017 fire that destroyed the Royal Suites Lodge in Anchorage.

Anchorage Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson accepted Eknaty’s and Fox’s guilty pleas. Both Eknaty and Fox pleaded guilty to three counts of Manslaughter, one consolidated count of Assault in the First Degree, and one count of Criminally Negligent Burning in the Second Degree. Fox also pleaded guilty to one count of Driving Under the Influence. All other charges were dismissed as part of the agreement.

The charges against Eknaty and Fox stem from the Feb. 15, 2017, fire that destroyed the Royal Suites Lodge, a residential apartment complex near the intersection of Minnesota Drive and W 43rd Avenue. Vivian Hall, Laura Kramer, and Teuaililo Nua died, and numerous other individuals were injured, because of the fire. The case was investigated by the Anchorage Police Department’s Homicide Unit, the Anchorage Fire Department, the Alaska State Fire Marshall’s, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 14, 2024, in front of Judge Peterson.

Eknaty and Fox are currently in the custody of the Alaska Department of Corrections and are no longer eligible to be released on bail.

CONTACT: Anchorage Assistant District Attorney Patrick McKay at (907) 269-6300 or patrick.mckay@alaska.gov.

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Department Media Contacts: Communications Director Patty Sullivan at patty.sullivan@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6368. Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.