Aniah Blanchard shooting suspect says she ‘went for the gun’

The shooting suspect in the death of Aniah Blanchard, the daughter of UFC heavyweight Walt Harris, says Blanchard “went for the gun” which is why he shot her.

Ibraheem Yazeed was charged with capital murder for the abduction and shooting of the 19-year-old Blanchard, whose remains were found last week after a month-long investigation into her disappearance. Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes is seeking the death penalty to Yazeed for his alleged crimes.

The 29-year-old Yazeed said he shot Blanchard after she allegedly “went for the gun,” according to court documents that ABC News relayed in a new report on the murder.

According to the report, an unnamed individual told police that Yazeed was at his Montgomery, Alabama home with Blanchard’s car. That’s when police went in and arrested Yazeed.

“Yazeed admitted to shooting a girl, and stated the girl ‘went for the gun,'” said that same individual in court documents.

Last week, the medical examiner concluded that Blanchard was shot to death and her death was ruled a homicide. That’s why charges against Yazeed were upgraded to capital murder, meaning prosecutors are now able to chase the death penalty.

The murder of Blanchard has been a shock to everyone in the Alabama community as well as to those in the MMA community. Blanchard’s father Harris is one of the top-10 ranked heavyweights on the UFC roster and was set to fight Alistair Overeem at this weekend’s UFC Washington, D.C. card before having to withdraw due to his daughter’s disappearance.

Since then, several prominent figures in the MMA community including UFC president Dana White and Overeem have offered their condolences to Harris on this extremely difficult time for him and his family. The only solace the family can take from this horrible act of violence is that justice is being fully sought by the law for what happened to Aniah Blanchard.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/5/2019.