Opening statements will begin Monday in the case of slain Southern Union State Community College student Aniah Blanchard. After a week of jury selection, attorneys agreed on 12 jurors and four alternates on Friday.
Homewood city officials are displaying blue lights on City Hall in honor of Blanchard and in support of her family.
“As the trial begins, we recognize that this is an incredibly difficult time for those who love and miss her every single day,” the city stated. “Aniah was one of our own, a Homewood graduate whose life was taken far too soon. She will never be forgotten in this community.”
Blanchard was shot and killed in 2019 and her body was found in rural Macon County.
Ibraheem Yazeed, 36, of Montgomery, is charged with capital murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Yazeed has pleaded not guilty
The case led to the passing of Alabama’s “Aniah’s Law,” which allows judges to hold suspects without bond if they have been arrested for violent offenses.
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