Photojournalism project returns family and friends to sites where people died in officer-involved incidents

‘There's a healing component to the project,’ says photographer Samantha Harrison, whose brother was killed in 2017. At the same time ‘we want better outcomes.’

Samantha Harrison, left, takes a photo of Elijah Harris and Terri Nierstheimer near the Mendenhall Valley Breeze In on Saturday, June 13, 2026. Nierstheimer’s daughter, Ashley Rae Johnston, was fatally shot on the street behind them during an encounter with police officers on Dec. 25, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

Terri Nierstheimer said it took months before she could go near the spot where her daughter was fatally shot by police on Christmas morning of 2024. On Saturday, Nierstheimer sat in a wheelchair at that spot with a friend of her daughter to have their photo taken as part of a project documenting situations such as hers.

Her daughter, Ashley Rae Johnston, 30, was shot after threatening a person at the Mendenhall Valley Breeze In and then approaching officers while carrying “a dual-use tool with a hatchet blade on one side,” according to official reports. A state investigation determined the officers’ actions were legally justified, but Nierstheimer said she still questions the decisions made by police and the official findings.

"It gets the word out," Nierstheimer said when asked how she felt about having such a photo shared with the world. She acknowledged her daughter, who was homeless at the time, also likely was "high as hell" that day. "But does that mean people should be thrown away like that? No, it doesn't, because they literally threw her life away."

The photographer, Samantha Harrison, had Nierstheimer hold a phone displaying a photo of her daughter while taking pictures from a range of angles and distances at the intersection of the shooting. It was Harrison’s second photo session of the day, after visiting a downtown street where Steven Kissack was fatally shot by police on July 15, 2024.

Harrison, who grew up in Juneau and Fairbanks, said she launched the photojournalism project two years ago, motivated by the loss of her brother, Cody Eyre, 20, during a shooting involving Fairbanks officers on Christmas Eve of 2017. A website for the project states she is "inviting other Indigenous families that have lost a loved one to officer-related brutality to share their stories."

"Native Americans are statistically more likely to be killed in police encounters than any other population," an overview posted by Harrison at the site notes. "My project aims to share the faces and names behind the grim statistics. I want to play an active role in shaping the world my child will grow up in. Art can advance social justice in ways other mediums cannot. My hope is that this visual photo essay is an instrumental change agent in policing recruitment, training, and tactics."

The project’s scope has expanded since then to include others who’ve contacted her about people who died in encounters involving law enforcement officials. Harrison, on Saturday, said it’s not intended as an anti-police project.

"I think, one, it's healing for the families to remember their loved ones, to not just sweep what happened up underneath the rug, but to remember them," she said. "So there's a healing component to the project. That's kind of the central point of the project in a lot of ways, is to remember people and to have like a community healing and family healing component to it."

At the same time, Harrison said she has concerns about how police respond to many incidents that result in fatalities and the state investigations that over a period of many years have ended without a finding of fault by the officers.

"We want better outcomes," she said. "It's a really small state. There's just been a huge amount of officer-related shootings and officer-related deaths in this state, especially recently. It's a growing problem and we want to work towards a solution that works for the police, but also works for people that are having a mental health crisis or are needing help."

Samantha Harrison, right, takes a photo of Jamiann S'eiltin Hasselquist and Charla Brown holding a portrait of Steven Kissack at the spot where he was fatally shot by police on July 15, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

Earlier that morning she met about half a dozen people on Front Street who were friends of Kissack, a 35-year-old man also experiencing homelessness who was shot after a standoff with officers that lasted several minutes while he was holding a knife. The state investigation determined two officers who fired at Kissack were not at fault because he was running in the direction of another officer while still holding the knife.

At the spot where Kissack was killed, Harrison took a photo of Jamiann S'eiltin Hasselquist and Charla Brown, who were holding a large portrait of him as a youth. Hasselquist, who worked in an office overlooking the spot, has a collection of photos from his family — featuring Kissack and extended family members, mostly from earlier years before he was on the streets — she is planning to use for a memorial exhibit in a storefront where he often spent his days.

"There's him as an adult there," Hasselquist said, pointing to a memorial banner with a photo showing how he looked closer to the time of his death. She brought the other pictures "because shows his family, it shows that he had people who loved and cared about him, and they’re still in heartbreak about him."

Brown said she adopted two puppies from Juno, a dog owned by Kissack who became well-known in her own right to many locals. Brown also called Kissack’s sister, Dawn, who lives in Florida, during the photo shoot to provide details of the gathering.

Harrison said she’s met with about 20 family members and friends of Kissack’s since his death as part of the project. A third Juneau resident who is part of the project so far is Joseph Murphy, who according to reports died of a heart attack on Aug. 14, 2015, at Lemon Creek Correctional Center after guards refused him care.

She said the project, which she expects will take another year or two to complete, features people in Alaska and beyond. Some she knows from her longtime work as a nurse, advocate for Native issues and producer on a social justice documentary. Others are from people contacting her via the project’s website.

"I'm really trying to open it up to anyone who wants to participate," she said. "Anyone that has lost a family member to officer violence that wants to participate and that number is just so overwhelmingly large that it feels like it always ongoing."

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.

Samantha Harrison poses for a photo on Saturday, June 13, 2026, next to pictures of Steven Kissack at a storefront where he was approached by a police officer shortly before being killed in a standoff with officers. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)