Teen Boy In Custody for Kake Teen Girl's Death, AST says

A teen boy was placed in custody in connection with a teen girl found dead in the Southeast village of Kake on Feb. 5, according to Alaska State Troopers.

13-year-old Mackenzie Howard, of Kake, was found in an arctic entry way at the Presbyterian Memorial Church the night the town held a memorial for a well-respected elder.

Troopers said the suspect is a 14-year-old boy from Kake and on Saturday he was being transported to a Department of Juvenile Justice holding facility in Ketchikan. His name and charges that were pending against him were not initially released, since the suspect is a juvenile, according to troopers.

The 10-day investigation led by Alaska State Troopers, investigators with the Alaska Bureau of Investigation as well as evidence technicians with the State of Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory pointed to the suspect.

Troopers and Bureau of Investigation investigators conducted interviews and evidence review, including an autopsy that confirmed Howard died as result of a homicide.

“It wasn't encouraging based on the age of the suspect to find out that's who we believed to have committed the crime,” AST Lt. Rex Leath said. “There was no mold we had to walk in with, we just had to walk in with it could have been anyone to commit the crime.”

Leath said the case came together after collecting several key pieces of evidence at the crime scene and after some search warrants were served and conducting interviews, however did not comment on specifics of the case.

Saturday was also the day of Howard’s funeral service in Kake and community leaders said the major development comes with mixed emotions.

“It's a great sense of relief for the community,” Joel Jackson, Kake Community Member, said. “At the same time, another family is affected.”

“I think the family of Mackinzie has been spreading what they got from her, which is, you know, love, forgiveness, moving on,” Jackson said.

Contact Neil Torquiano and Nancy Lockwood