An Anchorage judge this week sentenced two people accused of sparking a 2017 fire at apartment complex in Spenard who killed three people and injured 16 others, to 24 years in prison.

Several victims of the case who testified Monday at a sentencing hearing in Anchorage Superior Court said the sentence, obtained through a plea deal, was not long enough to reflect the physical injuries and trauma that still affect them daily, even seven years after the fire.

The early morning fire spread quickly throughout the 30-unit complex in February 2017, leaving some residents with no choice but to jump out of second or third story windows and throw their children to the ground being caught by those waiting below.

Andrew Eknaty, 36, and Carleigh West, 35, set fire to a car parked at the Royal Suite Apartments in an attempt to conceal an attempted escape from police that night while West was driving under the influence, prosecutors said . Eknaty and West were arrested in 2018 on 38 chargesincluding murder and arson.

At Monday’s hearing, Assistant Prosecutor Patrick McKay described the residents’ traumatic escapes as “the stuff of movies.” He said a thorough investigation cost millions of dollars.

In the hours before the fire, Eknaty stole a bottle of alcohol and the two men drank together, McKay said. West, who changed her name in 2022 from Carleigh Fox, drove into a snow berm near the University of Alaska Anchorage and fled the area after police saw the accident, according to a statement factual information included in the plea agreement.

West and Eknaty reported the Chevrolet Malibu was stolen and parked under the carport at the apartment complex near the intersection of Minnesota Drive and Spenard Road, the release states. Shortly after 2 a.m., they started a fire inside the car, which quickly spread to the three-story building.

In surveillance footage, Eknaty was seen returning to the car a few minutes later and trying to throw snow on the fire to try to put it out, according to the release. McKay said he believed Eknaty and West had no intention of harming anyone, but made “a really stupid decision” that resulted in tragedy.

The fire left survivors and families of those who died with lasting trauma, several victims testified Monday.

Honilyn Holder cried as she told Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson how the fire changed her and her family forever. She returned to the courtroom, too emotional to finish her statement, and her husband, Reuben Holder, hugged her.

“I get anxious just talking about it,” she said.

The couple lived on the third floor of the building with their young children and planned to move out at the end of the month, Reuben Holder said after the hearing. The night of the fire, they heard a loud noise and saw flames at their door minutes later, he said.

Honilyn Holder tied an electrical cord to a coat hanger and climbed down to a lower window sill with their 5-year-old son before throwing him to someone below, her husband said. He said he then threw their 3-year-old daughter out of a window and a police officer caught her three floors down.

(Previous coverage: ‘No other choice’: Dad caught kids as they jumped from fire, but pregnant wife landed hard)

The entire family was injured in the jump: Reuben Holder said he broke his back and his wife broke her foot. They stayed in a hotel for several months, but the injuries prevented them from working and earning enough money to pay their rent, Honilyn Holder said. The trauma led her to become addicted to alcohol, although she says she has since undergone treatment.

The family was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, she said. Honilyn Holder said she still struggles with crippling anxiety and constant fear. She said she had trouble sleeping and still often woke up screaming.

“Before the fire, we were happy all the time and weren’t afraid. I was enrolled in college,” she said. “Our family has fallen apart in every way possible.”

West and Eknaty pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, first-degree assault and negligent arson in April as part of the plea deal that required them to serve 24 years in prison. West also pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence.

The agreement called for a sentence of seven years for each manslaughter charge, a sentence less than second-degree murder. In a statement read Monday by a Victims For Justice advocate, the daughter of Laura Kramer, 70, died in the fire, called the deal a joke and said it did not do justice to his family or others affected by the fire.

Kramer was flown to a Seattle hospital after the fire and died there nine days later, her daughter said. It took authorities 12 days after the fire to find her family, she said.

Kramer’s roommate, Vivian Hall, 63, died in their second floor unit.

Kramer and Hall were best friends, his daughter said. She described Kramer as a loving and adventurous woman, “always willing to try new things and meet new people.” She rarely met anyone who wasn’t a friend.

Teuaililo Nua, 38 years old, mother of two children, She also died when she jumped from a window after her daughters, her husband told reporters days after the fire.

McKay, the assistant district attorney, acknowledged during the hearing that the plea agreement provided for a significant reduction in charges in a case that claimed many victims. The case would have been difficult and risky to bring to court, he said.

Because fires are so destructive, they leave behind limited evidence, McKay said. An investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives involved rebuilding parts of the building and burning identical models of the car where the fire started, he said. -he declared.

Had the case gone to trial, McKay said, the state may also have had to overcome an accomplice liability defense, in which West and Eknaty may have “pointed fingers” at each other.

Peterson, who accepted the plea deal, said the sentence appears to be designed to focus on rehabilitation and deterrence. If West or Eknaty violate the terms of probation, they will be rearrested and could face up to 36 additional years in custody.

Both Eknaty and West apologized to the victims during Monday’s hearing.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I wake up and start thinking about how sorry I am for all the damage this has caused,” West said. “I hope everyone can find it in their hearts to forgive me and that one day, maybe, I can forgive myself.”

Honilyn Holder said she appreciated the apology and said she forgives West and Eknaty. She and her husband said the 24-year sentence doesn’t seem like enough, but they want to see West and Eknaty change their ways.

“No time will be enough for what we have lost, what we have experienced, what others have lost, what they are going through,” Reuben Holder said. “So it’s going to be in God’s hands.”