Overview
- Jurors began hearing testimony in Tuskegee as the state presented surveillance placing Yazeed in Blanchard’s SUV shortly after she visited a Chevron in Auburn on Oct. 23, 2019.
- Ten witnesses took the stand on the first day, including Blanchard’s brother Elijah, her roommate, a sex worker who had been with Yazeed earlier that night, and the gas-station cashier.
- Prosecutors described evidence from Blanchard’s recovered Honda CR-V, including blood on the passenger seat matching her and a bullet hole in the passenger door.
- The state told jurors Yazeed later recounted to a friend that he shot Blanchard after she went for his gun, and that her body was left in a wooded area of Macon County.
- The defense argued the case is circumstantial and lacks direct proof Yazeed killed Blanchard; Yazeed has pleaded not guilty, and the trial is expected to last about two weeks with a jury of 12 plus four alternates.