Alaska Department of Law

11/06/2026 | Press release | Archived content

Versace Armani Sperl Guilty in 2023 Murder of Daishon Alex

November 6, 2026

(Anchorage, AK) - On Nov. 6, 2026, an Anchorage jury found defendant Versace Armani Sperl, 28, guilty of Murder in the First Degree, two counts of Murder in the Second Degree, Manslaughter, and Tampering With Physical Evidence in the First Degree, all charges related to the 2023 slaying of 22-year-old Daishon Alex in front of 409 Mumford Street in Mountain View.

Evidence at trial showed that Sperl shot Mr. Alex in the head and back at approximately 12:17 p.m. on May 18, 2023. An eyewitness saw Sperl running from the spot where he'd just fired nine shots at Mr. Alex. That witness identified Sperl during an interview with police and from the witness stand during trial. Surveillance recordings identified Sperl's car as the getaway vehicle. Later that evening, at Sperl's direction, separately convicted co-defendants Faizon Murray, Brandon Johnson, and Kenneth Lavea decoyed APD surveillance units from Sperl's car and then hid it in a nearby salvage yard. Sperl's car was eventually recovered by police in August of 2023.

The State's trial case also featured electronic evidence from Sperl's mobile phone and location data from his mobile phone carrier's records. These showed that minutes before the murder, Sperl received notifications that Mr. Alex was broadcasting live video on his social media account. Sperl's phone then began moving in the direction of the murder and then after the murder it returned to his apartment building. The data showed his phone was present at the same times and locations that his car was recorded by surveillance cameras.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys C. Travis Atkinson and Nolan Gerlach of the Anchorage District Attorney's Office, with the support of paralegal Daira Pico. The Anchorage Police Department Homicide Unit investigated the case.

Sentencing has been scheduled for April 2, 2027. Sentence will be imposed by the trial judge, the Hon. Jack McKenna of Anchorage Superior Court.

CONTACT: Assistant District Attorney C. Travis Atkinson at (907) 269-6300 or [email protected].

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Department Media Contact: Information Officer Sam Curtis at [email protected] 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 [email protected] to submit a formal Alaska Public Records Act request.

Alaska Department of Law published this content on November 06, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on November 09, 2026 at 18:11 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]