Akeeley Blade Jr is a teen killer who was convicted in the murder of a man during a robbery. According to court documents Blade along with three other teens went to a motel where they would fatally beat a man during the course of a robbery. The other three teens would immediately plead guilty for shorter prison sentences however Blade would try his luck in court.
Needless to say it did not go well as the teen killer received a life sentence after he was convicted. Akeeley Blade Jr is still facing other charges from the time he spent in jail including assault on a correction worker and the sexual assault of a mentally handicapped inmate. Needless to say he will probably never get out of prison and that is not a bad thing
Akeeley Blade Jr Other News
A year and a half after Akeeley Blade Jr, 20 of Alexandria, was found guilty by a Rapides Parish jury of first-degree murder and felony criminal conspiracy, he will be sentenced to life in prison.
Akeeley Blade Jr was convicted for the beating death of Michael Butler, 55 of Lecompte, at a Motel 6 in Alexandria. Butler was killed back in Aug. 2016. Three other defendants in the case – Camryn Lasyone, Travis Weston and Brooke Daniels have already been sentenced for their roles.
Lasyone received a sentence of 15 years for the lesser charge of manslaughter. Weston received a sentence of 25 years for a count of criminal conspiracy. Daniels received a sentence of 10 years for conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery.
The delay in Blade’s sentencing came as a result of several post-trial motions filed by his attorney, Michael Brewer, that were unsuccessful. A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
The sentencing, which was scheduled at a court appearance on Monday, is set for Aug. 26 in front of Judge Chris Hazel. The case was initially prosecuted by Jermaine Harris, who left the office after the trial wrapped to pursue a private practice. It is now being overseen by Johnny Giordano.
Akeeley Blade More News
Akeeley Blade, Jr., 20 of Alexandria, was sentenced on Monday to life in prison without the benefit of probation or suspension of sentence by Rapides Parish Judge Chris Hazel for the 2016 beating death of Michael Butler at a Motel 6 in Alexandria. Because Blade, Jr. was a juvenile at the time of the crime, he will be eligible for parole after 25 years.
Akeeley Blade, Jr. was found guilty in Dec. 2017 by a Rapides Parish Jury on charges of first degree murder, conspiracy to commit second degree robbery and second degree robbery.
Judge Hazel also sentenced Akeeley Blade Jr for the other two charges: 30 years for second degree robbery and 15 years hard labor for conspiracy to commit second degree robbery.
Before the sentencing, Rapides Parish Assistant District Attorney Johnny Giordano withdrew the State’s motion to seek life without parole for Akeeley Blade Jr, saying, “The State does feel that we may fall short with that burden.”
In a last attempt to sway Judge Hazel, Brewer reminded Judge Hazel of the fact that Blade was only 17 years old at the time of the murder.
I don’t believe…that there was any intent to plan or stage a homicide,” Brewer added.
Akeeley Blade Jr shortly addressed Butler’s family. “I want to apologize for the pain that this has caused on the family,” he said.
Crystal Smith, Butler’s niece, then addressed the Court.
“We’re just ready to put it behind us and move forward,” she said “…We ask that justice be served in the right and proper manner.
“The defendant’s actions were heinous and cowardly,” Judge Hazel said moments before sentencing Blade to prison for life.
As Hazel addressed the crowd, describing the pain and injuries Butler received during his murder, some of Butler’s family members became emotional, leaving the courtroom momentarily.
Three other defendants in the case – Camryn Lasyone, Travis Weston and Brooke Daniels – have already been sentenced for their roles.
Blade is also one of three men accused of sexually assaulting a disabled inmate in the Rapides Parish Jail in 2018. He was indicted for two counts of oral sexual battery and two counts of sexual battery. He pleaded “not guilty” to all charges back in May of this year.
A pre-trial date for those charges is set for Nov. 20.
Akeeley Blade Jr Murder Conviction Overturned
Akeeley Blade Jr.’s conviction for first-degree murder in the 2016 death of a Lecompte man at an Alexandria motel has been vacated by an appeal court, which ordered a new trial because the verdict was not unanimous.
Blade was one of four teens arrested by the Alexandria Police Department after the Aug. 10, 2016, beating of 54-year-old Michael Butler Sr., who had been staying at the former Motel 6 on MacArthur Drive.
Akeeley Blade Jr, then 17, and the others were partying at the motel when they encountered Butler. A girl enticed Butler to open his door, allowing Blade and two others to rush in and beat him.
They stole Butler’s wallet and $60. However, Butler was able to speak to responding police officers. He died later at Rapides Regional Medical Center.
Blade had agreed to a plea deal in May 2017 that would sentence him on a manslaughter charge. But just before he was sentenced, he decided to withdraw his guilty plea.
With that, the deal based on the manslaughter charge was gone. Prosecutors began planning to try Blade on the first-degree murder charge and formally charged him with other charges that they had not acted on previously.
A Rapides Parish jury convicted him in December 2017 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery and second-degree robbery. The verdict was 11 to one.
In August 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole on the murder charge.
Akeeley Blade Jr was also sentenced to 15 years at hard labor on the conspiracy to commit second-degree robbery conviction and 30 years at hard labor on the second-degree robbery conviction.
All his sentences were to be served concurrently. The appellate court upheld the conspiracy and robbery sentences.
The others in the case — Brooke Ashlyn Daniels, Camryn Neil Lasyone and Travis Jamire Weston — all took plea deals. Daniels and Lasyone testified against Blade during his trial.
In appealing his convictions to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal, Blade’s defense attorney, Michael Brewer, alleged 10 errors were made that should reverse the trial court’s decisions and the verdicts.
The defense claimed there was not enough evidence to convict Blade on any of the charges, that his Sixth and 14th amendment rights were violated, that he actually had been charged with manslaughter at the beginning of his trial, not first-degree murder, and that the conspiracy and robbery sentences were excessive.
The defense also claimed, as it did in motions after Blade’s conviction, that it hadn’t been allowed to bring up evidence that Lasyone’s sentence was improper and that a juror had engaged in misconduct.
But the three-judge panel rejected or found moot all but one of those errors in its opinion published on Wednesday, writing that the non-unanimous verdict was cause to vacate Blade’s conviction and order a new trial.
The appellate court did find that the trial court acted properly in not allowing Brewer to question Lasyone about the legality of his own sentence.
His age and education did not prepare Lasyone for such testimony, reads the opinion, and “whether his sentence was illegally lenient was irrelevant.”
And although the panel rejected the error claim regarding juror misconduct, the opinion did state the juror would have been questioned about his impartiality if the information had been discovered during jury selection.
No new trial date or court dates have been set.