Aniah Blanchard’s SUV the focus of testimony in Ibraheem Yazeed capital murder trial
Two forensics experts have taken the stand in the capital murder trial of Ibraheem Yazeed in Macon County to speak of what was in victim Aniah Blanchard’s SUV.
Today was day four of testimony in the trial of Yazeed, a Montgomery man who’s charged with abducting and killing Blanchard, a 19-year-old college student, in 2019.
While she was last seen inside a gas station in Auburn, her car was found afterward in Montgomery. Later, her body was discovered in woods in Macon County, about a month following her disappearance.
The forensic experts who testified talked about more than 40 pieces of evidence gathered from Blanchard’s SUV. They said swabs of various parts of the interior confirmed Blanchard’s DNA. However, two used condoms found inside that were tested for DNA were not conclusive as being a match for Yazeed.
The forensic experts said it’s not uncommon to have items not match DNA and that doesn’t prove that Yazeed was not in the SUV with Blanchard.
Blanchard was from Homewood and was a student at Southern Union Community College. She was the stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris.
Yazeed was arrested in Florida. He has a lengthy criminal history and was out on bail at the time of Blanchard’s death. That led the Legislature to pass, and Alabama voters to approve, “Aniah’s Law,” which limits the granting of bail for certain offenses.
Yazeed faces three capital counts:Â Capital Murder during a kidnapping, Capital Murder during a robbery and Capital Murder involving a victim’s vehicle.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
