Jalen Minock, who with other men went on a violent crime spree in 2021 near Russian Mission, has been convicted by a jury in Bethel for crimes involving terrifying activities in the village, which resulted in a man shot and children cowering in a bedroom hoping they would not be shot, as a shooter pummeled the house with shotgun pellets.
Minock was 21 when he committed the crimes. Now 22, he’s been found guilty of one count of attempted murder in the first degree, one count of robbery in the first degree, one count of misconduct involving weapons in the second degree, and 11 counts of assault in the third degree.
On July 28, 2021, Minock and his two co-defendants tried to rob another Russian Mission resident. During the robbery attempt, the man, Justin Edward, was shot twice with shotguns, ending up with dozens of shotgun pellets embedded in his arm. The co-defendants later fired shotguns at a house where they believed Edwards was hiding. Inside the house were 10 people — three adults and seven children who took cover inside a bedroom.
After the shooting, Minock and two others — 20-year-old codefendant Tyler Housler and a 14-year-old male — went on what troopers described as a violent rampage. But while officers sought the three, they evaded capture. Minock was captured on the fifth day, but it wasn’t until Oct. 25 when troopers located the 14-year-old in Russian Mission. He is also charged with attempted murder.
In November, troopers received reports that Housler and two other men were terrorizing Russian Mission, assaulting and robbing people. The other two were identified as 32-year-old Stephan Duffy and 18-year-old Bryce Housler, who assaulted at least three victims in three separate robbery attempts.
Minock has several other encounters with the law on his court record, inlcuding assault and protective orders against him.
Following the jury’s verdicts, Minock was remanded to custody Department of Corrections, where he will be held without bail pending a sentencing hearing scheduled for Sept. 15, 2023 before Judge Terrence Haas. He faces a sentence of up to 99 years for the attempted murder count and up to 32 additional years for the other 13 counts.
Russian Mission, in the in Kusilvak Census Area of Western Alaska, was established as a fur trading post in 1842 and has a population of about 423, according to the most recent census.
Photo credit: Selfies from Jalen Minock’s Facebook page.
Mmmmmmmm can’t help but notice how he seems to glorifying a certain type of culture. One that values status symbols and possessions….and violence. He didn’t get that from his community. Where might he have feasted on and enveloped himself in such “gangster mentality”?
One will never know.
Hey did you know Alaska is the most internet connected state in the union ? Did you also know tons of the youth out there in RAK don’t really care about or go to school but are really keen on spending 16-20 hours a day on YouTube and worldstar?
Another cool thing is how our politicians keep telling we can’t have full dividends because they need the money to provide more high speed internet to rural Alaskans.
Great comment Floyd. Exactly right on!
Ghettoes on the Tundra …. very sad.
Those poor people have lost God & lost hope.
More government money will not solve any of this ….it is sin.
RM isn’t the only one, there are lots of them.
He’s about to find out how tough he really is when he hits genpop.
He’ll make some lifer a nice new girlfriend.
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