Fairbanks woke up to heartbreak Tuesday after 87-year-old Velma Koontz was found shot to death inside her home on 22nd Avenue, a quiet street now marked by shock and sorrow. Police say Velma was seated in her wheelchair when she was killed, a detail that has shaken the community to its core.
Fairbanks Police officers were called to the home at 1018 22nd Avenue around 3:45 p.m. on January 20, 2026, after a report that a woman had been found deceased. Inside, officers discovered Velma with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the back of her head. The scene was still. The loss was immediate and overwhelming.
According to investigators, Velma’s husband had stepped out briefly to go to the store. When he returned, he found his gun outside the house and his wife dead inside. The moment turned an ordinary errand into a lifelong nightmare, one that no family should ever have to endure.
The case took a devastating turn when police contacted Velma’s grandson, Brian Davenport, 29. Officers say Davenport immediately told them he had killed someone. He was taken to the Fairbanks Police Department, advised of his rights, and later confessed to stealing his grandfather’s handgun and killing his grandmother.
During questioning, Davenport told investigators he had originally planned to kill someone else but changed his mind and killed Velma instead. Police say he admitted he knew killing was wrong, yet disturbingly compared his actions to “pulling the plug” on a person. The words only deepened the pain surrounding an already unthinkable crime.
Davenport was arrested and charged with Murder in the First Degree. He was remanded to the Fairbanks Correctional Center, where he is being held without bail as the case moves forward through the justice system.
Velma Koontz is being remembered as a gentle, loving presence in the lives of those who knew her. Family members describe her as a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother whose days were shaped by care, patience, and quiet strength. Her death has left a hole that cannot be filled.
As Fairbanks grieves, police continue their investigation and ask anyone with information related to the case to come forward. For now, a community mourns an elderly woman whose life ended violently in the place she should have been safest—her own home.
