Closing arguments held in capital murder trial of Ibraheem Yazeed in Macon County

Closing arguments have been held today in the capital murder trial of Ibraheem Yazeed, the Montgomery man accused of kidnapping and killing 19-year-old college student Aniah Blanchard in 2019.

Before closing arguments began, the judge announced that one of the three capital murder counts against Yazeed was being dropped. That count was capital murder-shooting inside a vehicle. Yazeed still faces capital murder-kidnapping and capital murder-robbery charges.

Blanchard was seen on surveillance video inside a Chevron gas station on South College Street in Auburn the night she disappeared. Her car was discovered in Montgomery, while her body was found in a wooded area in Macon County about a month after she vanished. The medical examiner said she had been shot in the head.

In closing arguments, prosecutors told jurors that from when Blanchard’s car was last seen on video getting onto Interstate 85 in Auburn to the time her body was dumped in a wooded area in Macon County that they have heard evidence to know she was killed, that she was shot inside her car due to the presence of blood and that her body was thrown into the woods.

The defense told the jury that prosecutors created more questions than answers, saying they were not able to tie any witness testimony to Yazeed other than the accounts of two convicted felons, texts from Blanchard’s phone to a roommate about smoking with a person named “Eric” and a short video. The defense also said there was no DNA evidence in the car tying Yazeed to it.

The defense told their jury that instead of capital murder, it could decide to convict Yazeed of felony murder or manslaughter instead.

Stay with Action 8 News for updates on jury deliberations and a verdict when it is reached.