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Charges against Ibraheem Yazeed have been upgraded to capital murder.
According to WVTM13 Ibraheem Yazeed, 29, has been charged with capital murder over the death of Aniah Blanchard. Yazeed had previously been charged with kidnapping and attempted murder.
Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes announced the upgraded charges at a pres conference on Monday. Hughes also stated that the prosecution will seek the death penalty if Yazeed is convicted.
During the press conference in Lee County, AL Hughes also revealed that a cause of death had been determined. According to the county medical examiner Blanchard died of a gunshot wound.
Blanchard, the stepdaughter of UFC heavyweight Walt Harris, grew up in Homewood, AL and attended Southern Union college outside of Auburn. She was abducted from a Chevron gas station in Auburn on the night of October 23rd. She was declared missing the next day.
Blanchard was pronounced dead after her remains were discovered near a rural road in Macon County, AL on November 25th. She was 19-years-old.
Three people have been charged in connection with Blanchard’s kidnapping and murder. Yazeed was arrested on November 8th by U.S Marshals after he had been named as a suspect. Investigators state that surveillance footage captured Yazeed in the same convenience store as Blanchard on the 23rd. A witness has claimed they saw Yazeed force Blanchard into her vehicle before driving away.
Yazeed was captured in Florida and transported to Lee County, where he was charged and held without bond. Yazeed had been out on a $295,000 bond over unrelated kidnapping and attempted murder charges when he was named as a suspect in the Blanchard case.
Antwain Fisher, 35, was arrested on November 22nd and also charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. He is accused of aiding Yazeed and disposing of evidence. David Lee Johnson Sr., 63 is accused of hindering the prosecution by providing false information.