Going West: True Crime - Aniah Blanchard // 245

Episode Date: October 19, 2022

In October of 2019, a 19-year-old college student vanished after stopping at a Chevron gas station late one night in Alabama. Shortly after she was reported missing, her blood-stained, damaged car was located in an apartment parking lot almost an hour away. But thanks to surveillance footage, an eyewitness testimony, and DNA evidence, a suspect was charged. This is the story of Aniah Blanchard. BONUS EPISODES patreon.com/goingwestpodcast CASE SOURCES 1. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/218020516/aniah-haley-blanchard 2. Tapology: https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/17046-walter-harris#:~:text=Walt%20was%20signed%20by%20the,The%20Ultimate%20Fighter%2018%20Finale 3. Aniah's Heart Foundation: https://www.aniahsheart22.com/ 4. 48 Hours: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/aniah-blanchard-murder-family-justice-48-hours/ 5. Medium: https://jacquewhitekochak.medium.com/a-murder-in-dixie-2b85394acafd https://www.aniahsheart22.com/about-us/ 6. WTVM: https://www.wtvm.com/2022/06/10/aniah-blanchards-family-host-second-self-defense-event-birmingham/ 7. Montgomery Advertiser: https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/11/08/aniah-blanchard-update-missing-ibraheem-yazeed-suspect-criminal-history/2528477001/ 8. Heavy: https://heavy.com/news/2019/11/ibraheem-yazeed/ 9. Heavy: https://heavy.com/news/2019/11/aniah-blanchard/ 10. NY Fights: https://nyfights.com/worldwide/aniahs-soul-lives-on-in-aniahs-heart-and-her-moms-resolve/#:~:text=It's%20not%20easy%2C%20it's%20very,best%20life%20that%20we%20could.%E2%80%9D 11. WSFA: https://www.wsfa.com/2019/11/08/affidavit-aniah-blanchards-blood-found-suv-witness-saw-her-abduction/ 12. AL.com: https://www.al.com/opinion/2019/11/johnson-aniah-blanchard-may-soon-be-home-protecting-others-like-her-is-all-of-our-business.html 13. AL.com: https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2019/11/aniah-blanchard-kidnapping-suspect-ibraheem-yazeed-captured-by-us-marshals-in-pensacola.html 14. Montgomery Advertiser: https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2019/11/25/aniah-blanchard-update-david-johnson-jr-charged-hindering-prosecution-alabama/4300567002/ 15. WSFA: https://www.wsfa.com/2021/06/23/dist-attorney-involved-aniah-blanchards-murder-case-trial-ethics-violations/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What is going on to crime fans? I'm your host Tee. And I'm your host Daphne. And you're listening to going west. Howdy everybody. Hope you're having a great day today. I just want to give a special. Thank you to Kelly. Kelly sent today's case in months ago. So thank you to Kelly and thank you all for tuning in. Today, I know I say this a lot, but we get recommendations for cases everywhere. But the best place to send it in is to going west podcast at gmail.com. That is where we will see it. I'm a little behind in replying, so sorry if it takes me a minute to get back to you, but I will see it and I will reply. So thank you in advance. Hopefully everybody is having a great October so far.

We're getting ready to put up our Halloween decorations. I know it feels a little late. We should have done it like weeks ago. We're always early, but I feel like I wait for October all year because it's the best month and then when it arrives, it's like, oh shit, we gotta do all this stuff to do. Stuff to do. Last year we were really ahead though, we were like September 1st, had him up, so we gotta go get some cool stuff and then go to like Halloween hornites at Universal Studios.

We have to do that. Oh yeah, that's gonna be great. Well anyway, let's get into this case. Alright guys, this is episode 245 of Going West, so let's get into it. 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh

1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh 1 tbh In October of 2019, a 19-year-old college student vanished after stopping at a gas station late one night in Alabama. Shortly after she was reported missing, her blood-stained damaged car was located

in an apartment parking lot almost an hour away. But thanks to surveillance footage, an eyewitness testimony and DNA evidence, a suspect was charged. This is the story of Anaya Blanchard. Anaya Haley Blanchard was born on June 22nd, 2000, to Angela and Elijah Blanchard in North Port, Alabama, which is about an hour outside of Birmingham. Anaya and her mom shared a birthday, which her mom thought was very special. My mom's birthday is the day before me and my twins birthday. It is very fun.

Yeah, it's nice to have a birthday that's so close to another family member. Yeah, so she also had an older brother named Elijah Jr., who was only 17 months older than her, and he remembers Anaya as his best friend, and he also laughed remembering that they were constantly getting mistaken for boyfriend and girlfriend. Mother Angela worked as a pediatric emergency room nurse in Birmingham, and their father Elijah was a local businessman and a pastor,

so Faith played a prominent role in all of their lives. At some point, the family moved to Homewood, which is a close suburb of Birmingham, only about a 10-minute drive from downtown. In 2004, when Anaya was 3 years old, the Blanchards did divorce, but the kids remained close with both parents, and both parents also happily remarried. Angela marrying a UFC fighter named Walt Harris, and Walt was a former college basketball player who signed to the UFC in 2013. And then in 2019, he was ranked 9th in the world and entered into the Hall of Fame, going

by the nickname The Big Ticket, so some of you might know who he is. And he fondly remembers of Anaya quote, if it was a loss she'd always pick me up. Meanwhile, Elijah married a prominent Alabama attorney named Yashiba Glen who owns a law firm called Glen Blanchard in a suburb of Birmingham, and she specializes in domestic relations, adoptions, and veterans law among other things. And friends and family of Anaya's remember the light that just radiated from her smile and that she was pure sunshine. Her mom described her as a happy, loving,

and giving child who always put others first. Anaya attended Homewood High School and played softball for her school's team. She was known in her local softball community for always inviting the opposing team onto the pitcher's mound for high fives and a prayer after the game, whether or not they won. Angela and Walt went on to have two more children, a son named Asa and a daughter named Aila. Because Angela was commonly working night shifts at the hospital, Anaya helped out her

stepdad with her younger brother and sister a lot, and Walt remembers what a great team they made. And he never saw Anaya and Elijah step children saying, quote, they were my children. It's just the way I saw it. They were my own. My stepdad feels the same. Exactly. Yeah. So in 2017, Elijah enrolled at Auburn University and the following year, Anaya enrolled at the community college,

eventually wanting to transfer to Auburn herself to study early childhood education. But for the time being, she was taking classes and working as a nanny. Now Anaya moved just a 10minute drive away from her brother Elijah, and he said that they saw each other often and spoke on the phone pretty much every day. Anaya brought along her dog, Blue, whom she absolutely adored, and moved into an apartment with a friend named Sarah. On October 23, 2019, the siblings and their mom, Angela, attended the funeral of a family friend

in Northern Alabama. But Anaya and Elijah couldn't stay late because they both had to work the next morning back in Auburn, which is almost 200 miles or over 300 kilometers from where the funeral was being held. So it was not very close by. Anaya drove herself and her brother home to Auburn, making a pit stop in Homewood, to see their stepdad walled and their siblings on the way. Walt said that he still regrets not

telling Anaya to stay the night because he could tell that she was tired. And he remembers that he did ask her, but she promised that she was fine, and she would just drop Elijah at home, and then head right to bed. Walt told them that he loved them, and they said good night, making the two-hour drive back to Auburn from Homewood. Anaya dropped Elijah at his apartment

around 11 p.m. that evening. And they were just three miles apart or about five kilometers, so they lived very close to each other. And about nine minutes later, at 11.09 p.m., Anaya's roommate Sarah asked if she was almost home, to which Anaya responded, yeah. And in those, you know, probably in nine minutes or around nine minutes, she could have made it home, but she did make a pit stop, which we will get into here in a minute. And also, by the way, Anaya and Sarah did share each other's locations on their iPhones,

and they always kept each other updated on their whereabouts. And strangely, Sarah remembers that Anaya's biggest fear was being kidnapped and murdered, and Sarah says that everyone who knew her knew this, and Elijah said that she rarely went anywhere alone at night for this very reason, but this particular night she did. So around 30 minutes later, at about 11.40pm, 19-year-old Anaya still had not made it home. So Sarah jokingly texted her, did you go out without me? To which Anaya responded, I'm smoking a blunt LOL. Sarah said that this felt out a character for Anaya and that she'd never heard Anaya

use the word blunt before. Who are you smoking with, Sarah asked? And Anaya responded with, quote, Eric, I just met him. Three minutes later, at 11.43 pm, Sarah asked her, where? But Anaya never responded. Sarah then checked the location of Anaya's iPhone. And it had her at a nearby apartment complex where many students lived.

So Sarah just assumed that she had gone back to this guy's apartment to hang out or just meet up with some friends. So Sarah went to bed assuming that Anaya would come home soon. The next morning, Angela was taking her younger children to school and face timed her daughter, like she did every single morning, but Anaya didn't answer. Meanwhile, when Sarah got up, she went to Anaya's room to hear about her night and found it empty, which kind of shocked Sarah, who said, quote, she would always come home, she wouldn't spend the night with someone that she had just met. She also never left her dog alone overnight.

Sarah again checked the location of Anaya's iPhone, but this time it was turned off. Sarah contacted Karina Thomas, the mom of the kids that Anaya nannied for, who said that Anaya hadn't shown up for work that morning. And this was alarming to both of them, because Anaya never missed an opportunity to be with the kids, especially since she wanted to work in child education. And Karina said that Anaya was the most responsible and reliable nanny that she had ever met. So with that, Sarah hopped in her car and started driving around looking for Anaya's car. She also called Elijah to alert him of the situation and told him that she was really concerned.

So Anaya's brother Elijah met her at the apartment right away. As Sarah filled him in, they both had concerns over this new friend that was named Eric. So at this point, Elijah called his mom and his stepdad Walt, who jumped in the car immediately and drove to meet them from two hours away. And Walt remembers that being the scariest and worst two hours of his life. Because of course, he's sitting in this car and he just wants to be like teleported to Auburn where he can look for his daughter. So Elijah touched base with Karina again, who still hadn't heard from Anaya. Anaya's

dad, Elijah Sr., worried quote, She likes to make sure everybody is okay. That's what my concern is, that somebody has taken advantage of her kindness. Anaya's childhood friend Hannah also joined the search, dropping everything from four hours away, and coming in to help the family look for her friend. But when it had been 24 hours since anyone had seen or heard from Anaya, a sense of dread just really set in. Because they all agreed that Anaya would not have just left on her own like that, especially

without talking to any of them or telling anybody her plans. Because you know, an even Sarah knew that she was planning to come home that night. So her not showing up, they knew that something was very wrong. So the family pleaded on local news stations and got the word out about 19 year old Anaya's disappearance in this generally safe college town. But there were no signs of her. Then, two days later, on October 25, 2019, around 6.15pm, someone spotted Anaya's black

2017 Honda CR-V in an apartment complex parking lot over 50 miles or 80 kilometers away in the capital city of Montgomery, Alabama. And this was cold comfort to those searching for her because her car had been badly damaged and there was no sign of Anaya. When Karina informed her children that Anaya was missing, they both started crying. She remembers her young son grabbing his iPad and looking up how many houses were in Montgomery so that they could search each one for an eye. Churches all around Homoid prayed for her sea for turn.

Ribbons and bows in her favorite color adorned the entire town, and everyone in the community came together to find her. Angela and Walt searched from Auburn to Tuskegee, a half an hour southwest of Auburn, just the two of them in Walt's truck for two days, coming the dense forest that covered the area. Angela described the time as, quote, pure hell, just the worst feeling in the world to not know where your child is. Reward money came in from all over, including from UFC President Dana White, and Light Heavyweight

Champion John Jones, who contributed $25,000 each, so that's really amazing that the UFC actually stepped in to help in this surge. So generous. Walt cancelled an upcoming fight to devote his time to finding Anaya, saying QUOTE, I wasn't able to focus at all. It was just chaos. There was sadness. It's like a dark abyss. While police would not reveal publicly what they found in a Naya's car, they did say

that because of the state of the interior of her car, it seemed like a struggle took place, and they zeroed in on foul play. Then finally, a break in the case from surveillance footage, police discovered that Anaya had stopped at a Chevron gas station on College Street right there in Auburn, just a two minute drive from her apartment. According to the video, Anaya went inside at 11.21 pm, and she was in the store for just two minutes,

and she bought a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips and a drink. And her mom said that nighttime snacking was her thing. And remember, just 11 minutes before this is when her roommate Sarah texted her asking if she was almost home to which Anaya replied with, yeah. So she was probably on her way to the gas station to grab some chips, and then she was going to be two minutes from home. You know, she should have been home by like 11.25 at that point or about that time before 11.30. But as we know, she did

not get home around 11.30 or even after that. So two weeks after her disappearance, police announced a person of interest, a man who had been seen inside the gas station with her at the time that she had been picking up her snack, whom they had also captured on the surveillance footage. A witness who had been with them at the gas station that night came forward to police and said that they thought they remembered this man, the suspecting question, forcing an unwilling Anaya into his car in the gas station parking lot. But why they took so long to report this information,

we don't know. Yeah, I don't know if maybe they just didn't know what was really going on and couldn't be sure if that was an actual abduction. And then when they found out about Anaya being missing and then they came forward, I mean mean i'm assuming that's probably what happened yeah and i isn't so horrible because i think we are all or many of us are kind of victim of this of looking at a situation and maybe being like oh I

don't know what's going on there i can't assume the worst and call the police because actually you and i had a situation recently where we called the police and it ended up being nothing and they even said that they were like we're glad that you called anyway because if it was something you know we would have wanted to know as well because then i was like oh shit i called them and i didn't need to but they they acknowledge that it was good that we did that yeah absolutely and you know but a lot of people don't know that exactly and hindsight's twenty twenty so you

never really know what the situation is. And if it's serious, I mean, it's possible that this person in the gas station was thinking, hey, maybe they're just like playing a joke on each other or just messing around. Right. And I'm sure if he had seen like a full-blown abduction, it would have been a little different, but maybe he only saw like a little snippet, and he didn't know it was going on, didn't report it. So anyway, the suspect, the man that we're talking about that allegedly abducted her, is Ibrahim Yazid, so not Eric. And he was a 30-year-old man, remember Anaya was 19, from Montgomery, Alabama, which is where her car was found. Police felt so confident that he was involved in Anaya's disappearance, that they issued a warrant

for his arrest and announced that he was dangerous and likely armed. The reason for this was his extensive criminal record, so Ibrahim Yazid had actually been in jail until recently when he was released on bond and was still awaiting trial for involvement in that crime. In February of that year, so 2019, he and a woman named Jesse Ford were arrested for attempted murder after a 77-year-old man was found beaten almost to death and left in a car. Wow. I know, so, so messed up.

So police discovered him after they had pulled someone else over for erratic driving. And according to police, he was, quote, unconscious, unresponsive, severely injured and near death in the parking lot of a hotel. So Ibrahim is very violent. Yeah. And Ibrahim Yazeed and Jesse Ford then robbed this 77-year-old man after beating him nearly to death and left him for dead. They were also responsible for holding another person against their will at the same time, beating him and stealing from him as well. And Ibrahim had a rap sheet dating back to 2011, so when he was around 22 years old, when

he was arrested for robbery. Now the following year in 2012, so seven years before Anaya's disappearance, 23-year-old Ibrahim was arrested for attempted murder when he intentionally ramped his car into the back of a police vehicle. What an idiot. Yeah, why would you do that? Then, in 2015, he was arrested for felony drug possession. And in 2017, he was arrested for aggravated battery

after he attacked a police officer. So it seems that this guy really just doesn't give any fucks. I mean, like he's not just attacking like random victims. He's also going after police. Yeah, so true. Does not give a shit. The Auburn police chief said of him being involved in Anaya's case quote, we don't have any reason to know that she was familiar with him, but we can't rule out completely that

there was some knowledge. Because he had been serving time, it seemed as if he was homeless upon his release, and he had been staying in a hotel near the Chevron station where he had abducted Anaya, which again was two minutes from her apartment, so close to the college as well. It's still not known whether the two had any sort of history or familiarity, because Ibrahim was actually attending the same college. Later the same night that she was abducted, Anaya's car was seen at a different nearby gas station as Ibrahim went inside and bought a cigar. An hour later, a licensed plate reader clocked Anaya's car at the entrance of the I-85

highway heading south toward Montgomery. After the arrest warrant was issued for Ibrahim, Angel pleaded with him on the local news, quote, "'As a mother and as a Christian, you know we're all sinners, and even though this man has done some evil things and possibly evil things to our daughter, you know God can change everybody's heart. If he sees this, whoever it is, who has done harm to our child, it can be okay. You can stop now. You can change this. You can let her go. God forgives you. We can forgive you. We just want our child home and safe. The day after Angela made that impassioned public plea to Ebrahim that heath just read, their prayers were answered. Well, kind of.

So on Thursday, November 7, 2012, Ebrahim was found hiding out in the woods near Pensacola, Florida, over 200 miles, or over 320 kilometers, away from where Anaya was last seen on surveillance footage in Auburn, Alabama, so about a three and a half hour drive away. He was arrested for the first degree kidnapping of 19-year-old Anaya Blanchard, and it was reported by police that he did not surrender peacefully of course he did this dude attacks police officers so the day after that ebrahim yazid appeared in court in florida within it within extremely swollen eyes are

uh... that he claimed that police gave him good i hope they punched him in his face it's a bit here they did i hope they did so at his face to be honest here they did i hope they did so at this point police felt comfortable releasing the results of their search of the interior of an iA's car and what they found and here's what it was

it was blood and a lot of it and they also found male dna running ebra heems alongside it to see if it matched and well, it did. They explained that her passengers seat contained an excessive amount of blood, and that the door behind it held a bullet. So Anaya's fate seemed grim at this point, and her parents were eager to face Ibrahim in

court and get the answers that they deserved. But they were horrified when they found him to be smug, walking into the courtroom, staring them down and shaking his head. I've also seen other photos of him smiling in court, which is just like the most annoying shite ever. The worst type of human. Truly. And Walt in particular felt like Ibrahim was challenging him.

If only Walt could have given him a little something. Well, what I was thinking is just put him in a cage with Ebrahim. Yeah, and just let Walt just beat the shit out of him. If only. So despite everything stacked against him, while there was still nobody, Ebrahim maintained his innocence. The following week, Anaya's mom, Angela, and Walt went on Doctor Phil to plead for answers. And then on November 22nd, so a month after Anaya went missing, the police shocked the community

when they arrested a second man in connection to Anaya's abduction and murder. This man was also a convicted felon because in 2004 Antoine Fisher was arrested and convicted of the murder of 25 year old Amy Roles who lived in the suburbs of Montgomery which again is like an hour from Auburn. That's where Ibrahim lived and that is where Anai is car was found. It was apparently a drug deal gone wrong and the other man involved is still serving time in Alabama State Prison. Antoine served less than two years for the crime and in 2019, 35 years old and a father

of four, Antoine was released on a $50,000 bond for his involvement in a niacidduction and probable murder. And he provided the police with information to allow for his release. So he got a deal. Yeah, exactly. And they so they suspected him of aiding Abraham in disposing of evidence. And they hope that, you know, like working with him would lead to the eventual discovery of her body. After Antoine was released on bail, police agreed to drop the charges against him if he started talking. Now according to Antoine's account, Ibrahim had called him in the early morning hours

of October 24th and then showed up in Montgomery asking for help, driving a Nias car. Antoine followed behind Ibrahim in his own truck to the very apartment complex where investigators found an IAS car. They then wound up at a cemetery behind a church, and Antoine noticed what looked like a large object wrapped in a comforter in the back of the Honda CR-V that Eberhame had been driving, which was obviously an IAS. So Antoine remembers saying, quote, tell me that's not a body. But Ibrahim assured him saying, quote, it won't come back on you and your family.

Ibrahim then dropped the object that he had been transporting in the woods, which was indeed anias body. When Antoine pushed for answers, Ibrahim simply said that he had shot a girl when she went for the gun, leading investigators to believe that in her last moments, she had tried to reach for the gun to fight back against her attacker. If that's even what happened, he probably is saying that to seem like he was defending himself when he's the one who put her,

you know, he's the one who abducted her. Of course, he's trying to make himself the victim. Exactly. So I mean, whether or not a struggle ensued and he shot her during the struggle, it doesn't matter like you still murdered her. Yeah, true. So on November 25, two days later, police arrested a third man in connection with a Nia's disappearance. David Johnson Jr. was arrested for hindering the prosecution of Ibrahim Yazeed. David was alleged to be the one who drove Ibrahim across state lines to Florida to avoid

being apprehended, and then he lied to police about it when he was questioned. That same day, police came across human remains in the woods of Macon County, Alabama, in between Auburn and Montgomery. There were items of clothing discarded nearby, including a pair of Surrell boots. Initially, detectives weren't sure if it was in fact an IA, and needed to wait on further testing. But they called Walton, Angela, down to the DA's office

to see if they could identify the clothing found nearby. The Surrell boots had been a gift from Walt when the family took a trip to New York City, so he recognized them instantly when he was shown a picture. The DA remembers Walt quietly excusing himself and then going to the sterile of the building, screaming and punching a concrete wall, overwhelmed with grief. Angela asked to see her daughter's remains, but she was told that she should not. Her parents were taken to the spot in the woods where police located in Nia's body

and searched for more items of hers that could serve as evidence. So now that investigators had her body, they could compare the crime scene which they believed, based on the amount of blood, was her car to the injuries that her body had sustained. Ultimately, she was killed by a gunshot wound, and they believed that she was trying to escape her own car when she was shot by Ibrahim. So then we can imagine that maybe she was trying to get into her own car, and she was

potentially shoved into her car car or was he already in her car waiting for her? Like that isn't clear but either way it seems like he forced her into her own car and tried to do God knows what while she was in there and then shot her there. Yeah and it's possible that the reason why he shot her like that is because she was probably fighting back. Yeah, but he couldn't control her. But I also wonder if they drove to a different area, like if she was in the driver seat, because

the blood was in the passenger seat. So was he in the driver seat and he drove her to a different area, because guarantee this didn't all happen in the gas station parking lot. No, it doesn't appear that it did. But then we have to remember that Sarah received that text back saying that she was smoking a blunt and she was with someone named Eric at 11.40 pm and 11.43 pm. And we know that she had entered the store at what was at 11.22. So like 20 minutes earlier and she was only in there for two minutes. So this all probably happened fast enough for 20 minutes after she left the store.

She may have already been dead and Ibrahim was using her phone to kind of divert Sarah from thinking that something was wrong to kind of give himself time. Yeah, absolutely. When I first read that, I was like, oh, like, what's going on with this Eric person, but the entire time it was just Ibrahim texting, like he was being very, uh, I don't know what, what you would call it like, I mean, for a guy that's so dumb, it appears that he was being very sneaky or somewhat smart here by texting Sarah that, oh, I'm with this person named Eric. Right, because then they might be looking for a guy named Eric instead of Ibrahim. But also, I mean, if he hadn't been on surveillance footage, that would have been one thing to kind of make him more unknown.

But then you think about the fact that his DNA was in her car. So he's a criminal record. Certainly, they already had his DNA in the system anyway. They would have caught him regardless so he made some mistakes luckily not smart enough but he was trying to get away with it by pointing fingers at a fake person named Eric absolutely so on December 2nd 2019 the DA announced that or the DA announced that they believed Ebrahim was responsible for the death of 19 year old Anaya Blanchard,

and that he was now being charged with both kidnapping and murder. But Ebrahim continued to proclaim innocence, and addressed the lawyers and Anaya's family with condescension and attitude. An Angela said through tears, quote, it's indescribable how someone could actually do these things to my beautiful daughter. And it's so traumatizing to think about what she went through. And then of course, on top of that, you know, being met with this attitude from the guy who did it, who's acting like he didn't do it when you're caught on surveillance footage with her. And your DNA is there. Your DNA is there. and two people are coming out saying you freaking did this yeah and also the

dude that uh... hold you across state lines rolled over on you buddy no it's what i mean him and uh... what's his face the other guy uh... the other shithead yes one so when asked what they wanted her parents simply said justice wall considered ending his ufc career because he was so broken over Anaya's death. He seems like such an amazing stepdad, but said that he was inspired to keep going after Anaya came to him in a dream. He remembers that she had been sitting in their living room a glow and he said quote, I hugged her and she said keep going.

And so Walt kept fighting. There was a fight scheduled for the one-year anniversary of Anaya's death, which he decided he wanted to participate in. So Walt flew to Abu Dhabi and quarantined for two weeks in a hotel while training since this was October of 2020. So it was very much in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, back at home in Homewood, Alabama, Angela held a vigil on the anniversary of her

daughter's death in Anaya's honor. Unfortunately, Walt did wind up losing that fight, and he came home saying that he should have taken more time. According to Angela, he broke down on the floor crying when he returned, finally letting the pent up anger and hurt out. The man who witnessed Anaya being abducted has testified against Ibrahim, breaking down in tears over the remorse of not reporting it sooner. While it doesn't necessarily affect the course of the impending trial for justice for Anaya Blanchard? In the summer of 2021, the District Attorney assisting the Blanchard family, Brandon Hughes,

was suspended from practicing law. He was accused of seven felony counts, including five ethics violations, and one count of conspiracy and one count of perjury. One claim against him alleges that he embezzled $14,000 to pay hush money to a female employee that he'd assaulted. But back to Anaya. Unfortunately, the pandemic has slowed the prosecution of Ibrahim Yazeed, and he is still being held without bond awaiting trial.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty, and Anaya left quite the legacy behind in her 19 short years. In June of 2020, Abenz was placed in Patriot Park in Homewood in her honor. A scholarship was also established at her high school in her name, and in November of 2022, Alabama residents will vote on Anaya's Law, which will push for stricter bail requirements for violent offenders. Angela's parents argue that Ibrahim Yuzid shouldn't even have been released with Angela saying, quote, �You have people committing multiple violent crimes, and they get out on bond.

It's just not okay.� Angela also started Anaya's heart foundation. A non-profit organization set out to educate people, especially young women, about personal safety and self-defense. The description on their website reads quote, Anaya's heart is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded by Angela Harris in July of 2020. After the tragic loss of her daughter, Anaya Blanchard, Angela appeared on several local and national television, radio and social media platforms, telling her daughter's story and fighting for Anaya's law. Angela's sincere heart touched many people.

Angela, while grieving herself, inspired others with transparency, strength, and love. People with similar situations gravitated to her looking for understanding, comfort, and support. Angelo continued to answer calls and help in any way that she could, sometimes by simply just being there. And as much as we wish that the stories we cover never happened, we really can all gain a lot of perspective

from them to really understand the dangers of the world. And actually, my step-dad Rob is a personal trainer. And we've been talking about doing self-defense classes for me and my twin sister, which I think is really good for everybody if possible, but also just knowing to be aware and really sadly to never, ever let your guard down. And not that Anaya did or that she welcomed this to happen to her really sadly to never ever let your guard down. And not that Anaya did or that she welcomed this to happen to her, but to hear these stories, I think helps all of us understand the horrible situations that can fall upon us

and to just try our hardest to stay safe, which is really what her family is doing with this organization, just making people as aware as possible of dangers, teaching them self-defense, and understanding how to protect yourself if you are in a dangerous situation, which is so amazing. Yeah, I really am grateful for them having this organization and just being there to help people who need it. So realizing what a difference she made and how many people were hurting and going through

similar tragedies, Andrew let's set out to make an impact by spreading awareness and educating anyone that would listen. The incidence of violence acts threatening the safety of women, children and adults are rising at an alarming rate. Angela says that if she can prevent just one person, just one child from violent harm, then she is done what she's set out to do. She added, quote, I will not stop fighting for her. The family started hosting free self-defense classes led by Walt, which is so badass.

Yeah, he is the perfect person to do that. And then Angela would lead a talk on personal safety measures. So Elijah said, quote, when my sister was taken, she didn't really know or have the experience to defend herself and escape when a person was attacking her. So I think it's important for people to know how to defend themselves in bad situations. Sharing this recommendation for a basic maneuver to get out of an attack, he said quote, if someone comes up behind you and gives you like a bear hug kind of maneuver, first thing you do is shrug your shoulders and duck down as hard as you can,

and then you'll take a step out and try to escape. They want to use her legacy and memory for good and hope to help others avoid the same fate. On December 21st, 2019, almost 2,000 people came together in her hometown to celebrate her life. All of those nearest and dearest Anaya spoke, including her younger siblings. Her little sister Aila said, quote, We will miss you. We were so happy that you are our sissy. And Homewood, Alabama, dubbed December 21st, a Nia Haley Blanchard Day. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.

Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Friday we'll have an all-new case for you guys to dive into. Remember if you are in Alabama and you're listening to this before November 2022, why don't you go ahead and vote for Anaya's Law and help the family and also help this amazing cause because Violin Offender should not be able to get out on bail. Yeah, absolutely. And also if you're in that area, you know, consider donating to the organization. And also maybe if you want to go take some classes, some self-defense classes with Walt. Yes, that would be so amazing. So thank you everybody for tuning in. We will see you

on Friday for a new episode of Going West, we're almost to 250. Yeah, I know, it's so crazy to think how many episodes we've done. And thank you guys again for sharing this show, also leaving us nice reviews, that also helps. And if you want more episodes of Going West, head over to our Patreon, which is patreon.com slash going west podcast. And the link for that is always in the descriptions of our episodes if you ever don't know how to spell patreon or don't remember what it's called, it is always right there for you.

Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5% 1.5%

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