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 Contact: Information Officer Sam Curtis at sam.curtis@alaska.gov or (907) 269-6269.
Due to resource constraints, we no longer post links to referenced records. Records filed in a federal court are readily available at Docket Search or PACER, and records filed in a State of Alaska court are readily available from the Alaska Court System (Trial Courts - Alaska Court System and Search for an Appellate Case). Contact Sam Curtis to request a referenced record that is not readily available from a court or on the internet, or contact law.recordsrequest@alaska.gov to submit a formal Alaska Public Records Act request.