'I feel very shattered'—A family buries the 10th homicide victim in Anchorage for 2019

Janice Susook walked inside the funeral hall wearing a fur tipped jacket with her daughter, Hazel, on her back.

She saw a friend and a reporter in the lobby and started crying.

"You can do this," her friend whispered.

Susook took a deep breath and asked to see her brother's body.

The manager at Legacy Heritage Chapel escorted Susook inside.

Tony Susook's body was inside an open cream colored casket. Soft piano music filled the silence before Janice began shaking and crying.

"I"m pretty sad, mad, really heartbroken," Janice said. "I miss him."

Tony Susook, Anchorage Police say, was beaten to death by his longtime friend Martin Kignak on April 1. Janice Susook says her brother left their shared apartment in Spenard the night of his death to celebrate his 27th birthday with Kignak.

Court documents say Kignak told detectives he got into an argument with Susook "regarding an incident that occurred a couple of years ago in Barrow."

About a dozen people filled the pews as Tony's brother, Cleo, played his guitar and sang hymns. The day before the funeral, the family attended a court hearing for Kignak.

Janice says she'll be in court every time Kignak appears.

"He took his (Tony's) life, and I believe Tony would want us to fight for him, justice for Tony," Janice Susook said.

Susook was the 10th person killed in a homicide in Anchorage this year.

2018 ended with 28 homicides.