A Delta Junction woman accused of using moose hair to try to cover up a deadly hit-and-run pleaded guilty to two felonies on Monday. Those include one count of tampering with physical evidence and one count of leaving the scene of an accident without rendering aid, says a final judgment.
The plea agreement drops other charges against 33-year-old Chelsie Erickson, including one count of criminally negligent homicide and a second count of tampering with evidence. Erickson agreed to a sentence of five years, with three and a half suspended and 18 months to serve, according to the final judgment.
She was charged in October 2023 over allegations that she’d struck 47-year-old John Emerick with her truck on the Alaska Highway that August, resulting in his death. Charging documents say the scene was consistent with a driver crossing into the shoulder and hitting Emerick as he walked along the highway.
In the documents, Alaska State Troopers say they contacted Erickson about a month and a half later after receiving a tip that she was telling people she’d hit a moose the same night as the accident. Charging documents say, when Troopers went to her home for an interview, she also told them that she’d struck a moose that August.
Troopers say, when they returned a week later with a search warrant, they found evidence on her truck that confirmed it was the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run.
The charging documents also say police found what appeared to be moose hair sprinkled on the interior engine compartment, and that the hair seemed to match that of a mounted moose head next to the vehicle.
Erickson’s mother, 62-year-old Janell Erickson, was also charged with two felony counts of tampering with evidence at the time. Court records show that prosecutors dismissed those charges earlier this month.