A Prince William County judge has sentenced a 38-year-old Manassas man to two life terms without the possibility of parole for the April 2024 shooting deaths of two women, one of whom was pregnant.
On July 2, Circuit Court Judge Petula Metzler sentenced Edward Bland Jr. to 74 years in prison plus 15 years suspended for his role in the killings of 34-year-old Leann Renee Harris and 22-year-old Asia Payne.
Bland was convicted in December by a Prince William County jury of aggravated murder of a pregnant woman in order to terminate her pregnancy, aggravated murder of killing more than one person, second-degree murder, carjacking, and three charges of using a handgun to commit a felony.
Prince William County police came to the Westgate apartment complex in Manassas on April 2, 2024, after receiving allegations of a guy with a pistol and a carjacking.
“Shenandoah deputies relayed information that the driver, later identified as Edward Jackson Bland, confessed to them that he had killed two people in Manassas,” Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth’s office said in a news release.
Police were able to locate the apartment where Bland had been before the carjacking and broke down the door, discovering Harris and Asia Payne both dead from a single gunshot wound to the head, according to the release. Ashworth’s office did not specify which victim was pregnant. Police reported that both victims knew Bland.
“The senseless, brutal and unprovoked killing of two women by Mr. Bland truly merited such a sentence,” Ashworth said in a statement. “Gun violence, especially with multiple victims, will not be tolerated in our community, and we believe that permanently removing Mr. Bland from society because of his heinous crimes will make Prince William County a safer place.”
The prosecution was led by Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Matthew J. Sweet and Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kimberly Rothenberger.
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