Herbert Blakeney was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the murder of his fourteen month old son
According to court documents Herbert Blakeney would slit the throat of his wife and then would slit the throat of his fourteen month old infant. His wife would survive her injuries however the infant would not
Herbert Blakeney would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Herbert Blakeney Case
Sacha Blakeney, the estranged wife of appellant, Herbert Blakeney, lived in an apartment at 63 North 14th Street in Harrisburg with Duana Swanson and their respective children. Responding to a report of a domestic disturbance at the apartment on February 1, 2000, Harrisburg Police found appellant and Sacha engaged in an argument. When appellant would not leave, the police escorted him from the apartment to his place of residence. Later that evening, Sacha left the apartment, leaving behind Swanson, Swanson’s thirteen-year-old son, Maurice, and Sacha’s two infant children, Basil and Aliya. Appellant later returned to the apartment to retrieve some clothing. Appellant also repeatedly telephoned the apartment asking to speak with Sacha. Fearful of further confrontations or telephone calls, Swanson had a friend, Garth George, stay with her until Sacha returned. Swanson also spoke with Sacha and informed her that appellant had been to the apartment.
While out buying beer, George encountered appellant, who told George “he was getting ready to do something” and did not want George to get involved. Notes of Testimony (“N.T.”), 8/6/02, at 599, 602. George rejoined Swanson at the apartment and both soon discovered that the telephone lines had been cut, which appellant admitted to at trial. Leaving George with the children, Swanson and Maurice went to a nearby phone booth to call the police, who said that they would “keep an eye on the place.” Id. at 550. Sometime thereafter, George left the apartment, and as he left, Swanson asked him to call the police again.
Later that night, in the early morning hours of February 2, 2000, appellant entered the apartment with a butcher knife and confronted Swanson and the children in a bedroom. Appellant jumped on the bed where Swanson and the children were gathered, grabbed Swanson by the arm, and dragged her from the bed. Maurice ran from the room and was immediately pursued by appellant, who had released Swanson to give chase. When Maurice reached the rear door he opened it to find Harrisburg Police Officer William Vernouski standing in the threshold with his gun drawn. Officer Vernouski, who was responding to a pending call, had arrived at the residence and approached the rear door after hearing a woman inside screaming for help.
At that point, appellant turned towards Swanson and stabbed her in the chest with his butcher knife. The two began to struggle, causing Swanson additional injuries to her hands. Appellant continued to try to stab Swanson while Officer Vernouski repeatedly told him to drop the knife. Appellant and Swanson fell to the floor. Appellant leaned over Swanson with his knife and choked her until she lost consciousness. Appellant walked away from Swanson and repeatedly walked in and out of the bedroom while making stabbing motions towards Officer Vernouski and shouting, “Shoot me, shoot me.”
Appellant then reached toward the children, who had been asleep on the bed, picked up Basil, Sacha’s 14-month-old son (not fathered by appellant), and held the child in his left arm while holding the knife in his right hand with the blade to Basil’s throat. Officer Vernouski, who was now accompanied by other police officers, attempted to reason with appellant, but appellant refused to put the infant down and walked into a rear stairwell. Appellant then cut Basil’s throat with the butcher knife in a back-and-forth sawing motion, cutting the child’s neck down to the bone and producing a gaping stab wound. Appellant relinquished control of the child only after Officer Vernouski shot him three times. The officers attempted to revive the infant, but were unsuccessful. Basil was rushed to the hospital where it was determined that he died from the wounds inflicted by appellant. The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy of Basil described the wound as “a huge stab wound in the neck” made by “multiple cuts ․ down into the bone,” and that “[i]t appeared [appellant] was trying to cut the poor child’s neck off.” N.T., 8/6/02, at 649-51.
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/pa-supreme-court/1165185.html
