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Anchorage police arrested a 25-year-old woman Saturday on charges including murder and arson in connection with the death of her roommate in an East Anchorage fire Friday morning.
APD spokesperson Lt. Dave Parker says Gina Virgilio is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree and third-degree counts of arson and criminal mischief, reckless endangerment and fourth-degree assault in the death of 24-year-old Michael Gonzales, following a joint investigation by APD and AFD with assistance from the state fire marshal’s office.
Anchorage Fire Department crews responded to an apartment fire at the Conifer Grove Apartments at 201 McCarrey St., shortly before 3 a.m. Friday. Crews found Gonzales’ body in the apartment after the fire was extinguished, and police announced later Friday that the blaze was considered suspicious.
“Investigators believe that Gina Virgilio threw gasoline onto her roommate Michael Gonzales while he was asleep on the couch in their apartment,” Parker wrote in a statement late Saturday evening. “She then lit the gasoline and then left the apartment.”
Parker says the fire destroyed the apartment where Virgilio and Gonzales lived, as well as forcing the evacuation of 18 other units in the same building. Several people were treated for smoke inhalation, and a few units in the building also suffered smoke damage.
Virgilio will be arraigned Sunday afternoon.