Ibraheem Yazeed is a killer from Alabama who was convicted of the murder of Aniah Blanchard
According to court documents the family of Aniah Blanchard would report her missing in October 2019. Police would use surveillence cameras to track her down to a convenience store in Auburn Alabama. Days later her vehicle would be found and a month later her body was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound
Police would learn from witnesses at the store that Ibraheem Yazeed had forced Aniah Blanchard into her vehicle before it drove off
Ibraheem Yazeed would be arrested and later be convicted of murder
Ibraheem Yazeed is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date
Ibraheem Yazeed Case
The man accused of killing 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard in 2019 has been found guilty of lesser charges after a long-awaited murder trial.
A jury in Macon County, Ala., convicted Ibraheem Yazeed, 36, on charges of murder and felony murder on Thursday, March 19, according to WBMA, WFSA and the Montgomery Advertiser. The verdict reflects lesser charges than the original indictment, which accused him of capital murder during a kidnapping and during a robbery.
A third count of capital murder involving a victim in a vehicle was dropped shortly before closing arguments were held on Tuesday, March 17, WSFA reported. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges in connection with the death of Blanchard, who was the stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris.
Yazeed is expected to be sentenced on May 7. Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors “intend to seek the maximum sentence allowed by law,” per WFSA.
“I pledge to do everything in my power to ensure that Ibraheem Yazeed spends the rest of his life in prison. I believe that is what justice demands in this case. Aniah deserves it, as does her family.”
Blanchard, who was a student at Southern Union Community College, was reported missing on Oct. 24, 2019. She was last seen on surveillance footage the night before inside a convenience store in Auburn, Ala., before getting into her black 2017 Honda CR-V and driving southbound, authorities said.
Surveillance footage showed Yazeed inside the convenience store, and a witness reportedly saw him force Blanchard into her car outside, the Associated Press previously reported.
Two days after she was reported missing, police found her car nearly 60 miles away at an apartment complex in Montgomery, Ala. Police said at the time that the CR-V had visible dents and scratches to the right bumper that it didn’t have when she went missing.
Authorities said evidence in the car led them to believe Blanchard had suffered a “life-threatening injury,” per an affidavit previously obtained by CBS News.
About a month after Blanchard disappeared, her remains were recovered in a wooded area in Macon County, Ala., per a press release from the Alabama Attorney General’s Office. Her cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound.
The investigation eventually led authorities to Yazeed, but he wasn’t indicted on capital murder charges until November 2022. Prosecutors said Yazeed “did intentionally cause the death of Blanchard by shooting her with a gun during the course of abducting her and robbing her of a vehicle and cell phone,” according to the release.
During the trial, prosecutors argued Yazeed killed Blanchard while she was inside her car and then transported her to the woods, where he shot her again, this time in the head, before leaving her there, WFSA reported.
Defense attorneys contended there was a lack of DNA evidence connecting Yazeed to the crime but prosecutors pointed out the surveillance footage and witness testimony, WFSA reported. Yazeed did not testify during the trial.
At the time of Blanchard’s death, Yazeed was out on bond on unrelated kidnapping and attempted murder charges, the Montgomery Advertiser previously reported.
Man Found Guilty of Murder in Killing of UFC Fighter’s Stepdaughter Aniah Blanchard
