An Alabama courtroom reached a final resolution Thursday as 36-year-old Ibraheem Yazeed was sentenced to life in prison for the 2019 kidnapping and murder of 19-year-old college student Aniah Blanchard.
The sentencing comes after a March conviction for murder, felony murder, and kidnapping in a case that gained global attention and prompted a manhunt across state boundaries.
The case began on the night of October 23, 2019, at an Auburn convenience shop. Evidence proved that Yazeed was inside the business at the same time as Blanchard, a Southern Union State Community College student.
After witnessing her enter, Yazeed waited outside for her to get back into her black 2017 Honda CR-V. He pushed his way into her car when she arrived and made her drive off.
The family of Blanchard, the stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris, reported her missing the next day after she failed to return home.
Authorities later discovered her abandoned vehicle near an apartment complex in Montgomery, with damage to the front tire and an abundance of blood inside, confirming that she had been the victim of foul play.
Following the disappearance, Yazeed fled the state, prompting a multi-agency search. He was eventually apprehended in Florida by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the US Marshals Service.
Following a pursuit along the Alabama-Florida border, cops apprehended him in the Pensacola region, just miles from the border. Yazeed was already on bond for kidnapping and attempted murder when he was arrested.
Investigators subsequently discovered that Yazeed shot Blanchard during the abduction and transported her body to a forested area in Macon County using a second car. It took authorities nearly a month to find her body off County Road 2.
The incident sparked the creation of “Aniah’s Law” in Alabama, which permits courts to refuse bond for anyone accused of numerous serious crimes. Blanchard’s mother, Angela Harris, told reporters that her daughter “fought hard and she got him off the streets so he could never hurt anybody again.”
In a statement following the sentencing, Attorney General Steve Marshall said, “Today, justice has been served. I am gratified that the court imposed the maximum allowable sentence for the senseless and brutal murder of Aniah Blanchard, life in prison. It is the sentence that the weight of this crime demanded, and one that Aniah’s family has long deserved.”
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