Yurel Nichols, 24, was sentenced by Anchorage Superior Court Judge Jack McKenna to serve 35 years in prison for the first-degree murder of Paula Zorawski in the Russian Jack neighborhood of East Anchorage in 2016, when Nichols was just 18. Nichols pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Oct. 19, 2022.
On Sept. 22, 2016, Nichols and his accomplices, Savon Berry, Michael Fitzgerald, Tommy Higgs III, and Alonzo Steward attempted a home-invasion robbery to steal marijuana and money from Zorawski. After Zorawski answered the door, she was shot and killed by Nichols. He and the other teens, ages 18 and 19, fled the scene. Surveillance camera caught the entire incident and the footage was presented as evidence.
In 2019, Higgs was sentenced to 18 years but has been paroled to supervised custody. Berry was sentenced to nine years for manslaughter, and is on parole, and Fitzgerald to nine years for first-degree robbery; he is also on parole. Steward pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced in 2019, with a scheduled release date of 2028.
Nichols originally fled to Converse, Texas, which is part of greater San Antonio, where he was tracked down by U.S. Marshals and the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force. Today’s sentence was for 80 years with 45 years suspended, and with supervised felony probation for 10 years. Nichols was in the Class of 2016 at East Anchorage High School, where he was a quarterback and wide receiver on the varsity football team.
