Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Judge Locks Up Teens for Roommate's Gruesome Murder

Episode Date: March 9, 2025

Teenagers Jacob Blain and Willow Reynolds admitted to beating their roommate, Adam Reynolds, to death with a shovel and stabbing him before stealing his car to go to McDonald's. Judge Mark Latchana in Genesee County, Michigan sentenced Blain and Reynolds but made it clear he wasn't happy about the plea agreement they had reached with the prosecutor. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through the sentencing in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Get 50% off of confidential background reports at https://www.truthfinder.com/lccrimefix and access information about almost anyone!Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guests: Philip Dubé  https://x.com/PhilipCDubeDr. Daniel Bober https://www.instagram.com/drdanielbober/CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Two teenagers sentenced for a man's murder, but is it enough time? I don't think there is a number, quite frankly, that is high enough for the evil that you subjected this gentleman to. The judge questioning whether Jacob Blaine and Willow Reynolds can ever be rehabilitated. To determine whether it is safe to release you back into society. Because I quite frankly do not know if that point in time will ever come. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. A Michigan judge sentenced 19-year-old Jacob Blaine and 18-year-old Willow Reynolds to a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of 100 years for the 2024 murder of their roommate.

The roommate was 44-year-old Adam Reynolds. No relation to Willow Reynolds, I want to point that out. Adam Reynolds' family described him as a devout Christian who loved his family. Now, the reason why Blaine and Reynolds said they murdered Adam Reynolds is so senseless and absolutely ridiculous. I'll have more on that shortly. Before Judge Mark Lachana delivered their fate, he condemned these teens for the heinous act of violence they committed. I will say that for purposes of the record and the other guidelines, it's not appropriate. It's not enough time for what you two did. I don't honestly know if there is a number that's enough time for what you two did. At one point, the judge laces in

to one of them. Mr. Blaine, look at me when I'm talking to you, sir. Okay, you spent the entire sentencing staring over there in this corner. When those three women were up here talking, you were looking over here in the corner. I know you apologize, but they deserve at least to be looked at in the eye for what you did. As I was saying, I don't think there is a number, quite frankly, that is high enough for the evil that you subjected this gentleman to. The scariest part of this is that nobody can see this coming. No felonies. Two minor misdemeanors. Generally this type of violence has some indicators and neither one of you had the greatest childhood.

I would say probably 90% of people who come in here for sentencing did not have the greatest situation growing up. But it doesn't result in what you two did. So quite frankly, I'm going to go home tonight and I'm going to not feel very good about this. And I'm probably not going to feel very good about it for a long time. The murder of Adam Reynolds is so incredibly tragic and sad. It makes you realize how important it is to know as much as you can about the people in your life. That's why Truthfinder.com is such a great resource. Truthfinder is one of the largest public record search services out there.

Truthfinder will show you a person's past and current addresses, social media accounts, phone numbers, criminal and traffic records, and possible relatives. And one thing that I really love about Truthfinder, it will show you the sex offenders who live near you. If you want to try out Truthfinder, and I really think you should, I have a good deal for you. You can get 50% off of confidential background reports. Just log on to www.truthfinder.com slash lc crime fix. Log on and start accessing information about almost anyone. Now, these were teenage boys who admitted to stabbing and beating Adam Reynolds with a shovel before spraying him with mace and then stealing his car to get this go to McDonald's. In their confession, the teens said they were upset with Adam

because he wanted to hold a meeting about house rules. Blaine and Reynolds pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed robbery, and carjacking. Before the judge sentenced them, Adam Reynolds' mother spoke. Adam wanted to make people better and the world better. He was loved by all of his family. And we knew that he loved us. Catherine Sally talked about the things that her son enjoyed and the things that he loved to do. He was a born navigator, learning new cities and their opportunities and potential. Gone is our family handyman and techie.

He was able to search YouTube and fix anything. He taught me how to identify birds and navigate Google Maps. He was strong in the best physical shape of his life. Self confident and handsome. Studying building codes and autism books for the future. We told each other, I love you every day. Sally then spoke about the future and what it will be like without her son. A son is supposed to care and protect his mother in her old age.

But now, I'm afraid to conduct business in the city, and I'm lost trying to navigate internet alternatives. My good memories of places, food, and hobbies that we shared make me sad and cry. So I avoid these things that used to make me happy. I'm trying not to allow other person's offenses to change who I am and how I perceive the world. This time, I want to thank the collaboration of multi-law enforcement and judicial agencies. Then Adam Reynolds' sister spoke to the court about her brother and his deep faith.

I'd like to address the court because I want to share with you what I knew about my brother, Adam Reynolds' character. I would also like to share how the crime that ended Adam's life impacted my family. Adam was a genuinely kind, generous, empathetic Christian man who loved his family immensely. About ten years ago, he renewed his faith in God. In Christianity, Adam was an active member of our family's church, and he attended services every Sunday. He was passionate about evangelism, and would often tell me that he made his daily choices based on what he felt with conviction was the right and christian thing to do adam believed in treating others with kindness compassion and generosity without judgment and would frequently go out of his way to help people who had fallen on hard times. He wanted to be a mentor to others by showing them that kindness and generosity still exists,

and there is hope for everyone, regardless of difficult times or past mistakes. Renee Reynolds spoke about the things her brother enjoyed and the time that they spent together. Animal to animals, breathing, gardening, music, kayaking, bike riding, bird watching. We spoke on the phone regularly and we visited often. And just being able to go visit him or he would make me a cup of tea with some helpful evidence about, and offer me the latest smoothie recipe he was trying out.

I miss sitting with him watching birds where he would tell me all their names and what type of birds he used to like the most. I miss talking about what flowers and vegetables he was growing in his garden or discussing the latest books we read. I miss our conversations about the upcoming community events and which ones we were planning on attending or participating in.

I miss talking about my children and their latest interests or accomplishments. He was such a proud uncle. I miss having dinner with him and my mother, my grandmother, which we did regularly. He was usually the chef trying out his latest recipes and always being so attentive to each of our planetary needs. Believe it or not, I'm actually going to miss thanking my mother about being mindful to decrease her salt intake.

I miss being able to call him for advice or home maintenance issues, car troubles. Lord knows those are never ending. He was always fixing things for my car or my home or for my kids. And in an incredibly sad moment, Renee Reynolds said her family's life is now divided into two times. The time before Adam's murder and the time after. She recalled receiving the news that her brother had been murdered. I have flashbacks. And my dreams are haunted by the memories of what my parents experienced

in the months following my brother's murder. My mother was at my home having a family dinner with me and my children when we received the call. We were in shock. We couldn't believe it. We were frozen in our throats. We had to remind each other to breathe. Breathe. My mother was so full of fear that she did not feel safe enough to return home for several weeks. She stayed with me. I was afraid of letting my children in the house.

So I kept them locked up inside. Jacob Blaine's attorney then spoke about his client and his tough upbringing, but made no excuses for what Blaine had done. Mr. Blaine is one of those with some problems growing up, you know, graduating high school. He kind of was one of those guys slipping through the cracks. And it's not a position to blame the government or the schools or the families, kind of a combination of all,

replacing the position where wrong things happen. Now this is an extreme wrong thing. That's not awesome. But I think, as it says, he shows remorse for what occurred. And so that's one of the things that we discussed on this with the court. He has programs in the Kansas County Jail. As I mentioned, he's showing remorse.

He's trying to get this so that when there is an outdate, that he will be a better part of society than he was as a young man. Then the attorney representing Willow Reynolds, who also goes by Max, spoke for him. this is something that should have and could have been avoided. I will tell the court that in getting to know my client in the very beginning here, the first thing that she had told me was she took responsibility for this very dark and difficult act and expressed remorse from pretty much day one, Your Honor. While Madison had some issues growing up, dealing with substance abuse, mental health abuse, mental health treatment, and not pursuing those treatments, I think led to a culmination of this tragic night, which causes us to really think about how important getting help

is in life not just for Max but for anybody we believe or I believe your honor that the CODS agreement that was struck with the court would be an appropriate resolution to this matter. I know this is something that Max thinks about every single day and will continue to think about every single day. And it is my true and sincere hope that the family can find peace moving forward from today, and that Max can as well, and also find good avenues to get treatment while incarcerated, and hopefully, when that's a chance, that parole will be able to become a better and more productive member of society. Judge Lachana asked Jacob Blaine whether he wanted to address the court

prior to receiving his sentence. And then it was Willow Reynolds' chance to speak. Those apologies meant very, very little to Judge LaChanna, given the terms of the plea agreement. I would say, first of all, that it sounds like we could all use Mr. Reynolds in our life to do all those things that his family described that he did not only for himself, but for people in his family,

but people that he was trying to help out. And from reading this report, it seems like Mr. Blaine and Ms. Reynolds were people like that, that Mr. Adam Reynolds took a chance and took the opportunity to try to help out, and it resulted in his death. And that perhaps is the most tragic part of this story is that the concept of putting yourself out there and helping people it should result in good things coming your way and good things happening to you it should never result in a violent death which is how it resulted in this particular case. So from that perspective, this is certainly not just a tragedy because Mr. Reynolds died as a result of violent death,

but it's a tragedy because that idea that he seemed to live for based upon what his family said here today is in jeopardy because it's very easy to say, you should have been more guarded you should have closed himself off to people and that's not the lesson we want to teach people that's not what we want to have happen we want people like Mr. Reynolds to give a helping hand but we never want that helping hand to be extended and then what happened to him occur again. It's very rare to have 19-year-old defendants

stand in front of the court on homicide charges. Judge Lachana then spoke of the horrific death suffered by Adam Reynolds for absolutely no reason at all. There was no reason for this to happen. We have no prior felonies and no misdemeanors or minimal misdemeanor involvement. These are an unusual set of circumstances with the age of these individuals, their lack of prior criminal history, and the extremely violent nature of these acts.

That is just particularly concerning to the court. The extent of the violence that Mr. Reynolds was subjected to by stabbing multiple times, use of a garden implement, and then left for dead when they tried to steal his car and went to the McDonald's. And ultimately when confronted by police, we're taken to the hospital for treatment. So it's a very difficult case to decide the sentencing. It truly is unbelievable that Adam Reynolds was beaten and stabbed. And then Jacob Blaine and Willow Reynolds stole his car to go to McDonald's. And that's part of the reason why the judge appeared so disgusted by his options for sentencing. So I'm going to fashion a sentence that is not appropriate and not adequate for the violence that was inflicted.

But it is a result of a negotiation that obviously something has to be given up to obtain that result and I think under these circumstances while I am not happy and not comfortable with it I'm going to follow the agreement that I made I'm going to sentence them accordingly but I'll note for the record that I hope when your minimum term at the Department of Correction is reached, that the parole folks take a long, careful, hard look at both of you to determine whether it is safe to release you back into society. Because I quite frankly do not know if that point in time will ever come. So the sentencing is as follows with regard to Mr. Blaine. On count one murder in the seventh degree,

he's sentenced to a minimum term of 20 years, a maximum term of 100 years. He has credit for 291 days that he has served. On count three armed robbery, he's sentenced to a minimum term of 20 years a maximum term of 100 years credit for 291 days that he has served and count of four monthly driving of an automobile attempt he sends 291 days credit for 291 days he's responsible financially for the crime making great speed and statement cost 130 204 and he has joined several restitution applications for crime victim services for 9136.79 his regard is reynolds his sentences as follows on count one she sets to a minimum term of 20 years a maximum term of 100 credit for

291 days that she has served on count three on the robbery the minimum term is 20 years the maximum is 100 years of credit for 291 days that she has served count four lovely brother will be able to attempt she says 291 days credit for 291 days days. So Willow Reynolds and Jacob Blaine will be eligible for release from prison before they're even 40 years old. But Adam Reynolds, he only lived to be 44. His life cut short by Jacob Blaine and Willow Reynolds. It's important to note that just because they will be eligible for parole, it doesn't mean they will be released. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Annette Levy. Thank you so much for joining me. I'll see you back here next time.