Man found guilty of murder in college student’s 2019 shooting avoids death penalty
03/23/2026 8:00 am PDT
TUSKEGEE, Ala. (TCN) -- A man has been convicted of murder in the 2019 death of a college student.
On March 19, 36-year-old Ibraham Yazeed was found guilty of murder in the killing of Aniah Blanchard, who was last seen alive at a gas station on Oct. 23, 2019. The Associated Press reports her body was found about a month later in a wooded area. She had died of a gunshot wound. As previously reported, Yazeed was charged with capital murder, and the attorney general planned to seek the death penalty.
At trial, the jurors found Yazeed guilty of murder and felony murder rather than capital murder, according to the AP; the latter carried the possibility of a death sentence. Instead, he now faces the possibility of life in prison.
Blanchard was the stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris, according to the AP. Her disappearance and death led to two changes in Alabama law. Aniah’s Law, approved by Alabama’s House of Representatives in 2021, gives judges more discretion to deny bail to those accused of violent crimes; at the time of Blanchard’s killing, Yazeed was out on bond in an unrelated kidnapping case, according to the AP.
In addition, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation in 2025 to allow judges to be brought in from out of state to take on violent cases; Blanchard’s case went several years without a trial.
The AP reports Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall was disappointed Yazeed will not face the death penalty. He said, “I pledge to do everything in my power to ensure that Ibraheem Yazeed spends the rest of his life in prison. I believe that is what justice demands in this case. Aniah deserves it, as does her family,”
WFSA reports Yazeed’s defense attorney William Whatley said, “Ibraheem Yazeed was made a scapegoat by elected politicians in the state. He was made an example on false evidence. The narrative was not what the evidence showed.”
In a post on Facebook, Blanchard’s mother, Angela Haley-Harris, wrote, “Yes we are of course Happy He was found guilty, but we all knew he was guilty, but it should have been for capital Murder! We are not ok! It’s gonna take a while to come to terms that that’s not what he got!”
According to WFSA, Yazeed is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7.
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