A soldier died guarding Fort Wainwright's gate. The drunk driver who hit him will serve 17 years.

Pfc. Arturo Gomez was 29, an infantryman with the 11th Airborne Division's "Arctic Wolves," standing his post at the main gate of Fort Wainwright on the night of July 22, 2024. He was killed there.

Brianna Lapp, a 33-year-old woman from North Pole, came down Gaffney Road driving erratically, clipping other vehicles and barriers and injuring other motorists before she reached the gate. She stopped only when she struck a concrete barrier and Gomez. A breath test nearly two hours later put her blood alcohol content at 0.299 — close to four times the legal limit of 0.08.

Lapp will spend 17 years in prison for it. Superior Court Judge Brent Bennett sentenced her in March to 22 years with five suspended and seven years of probation, after she pleaded guilty to felony manslaughter, third-degree assault, and driving under the influence.

The plea narrowed a heavier case. A Fairbanks grand jury had indicted Lapp on second-degree murder, manslaughter, several assault and reckless-endangerment counts, and two counts of leaving the scene without helping the injured. Under the agreement, prosecutors dropped the murder and leaving-the-scene charges, and Lapp admitted to manslaughter, one count of assault, and the DUI — the last carrying a one-year maximum, imposed in full.