The Murder of Anthony Blaylock
This post is going to be a little shorter, but it’s important to me to talk about underreported cases, even if there’s very little information.
This is from an episode of The Murder Tapes. It’s season 4 episode 10, titled ‘The Girl in the Crowd.’
Background
Anthony Blaylock
Anthony Blaylock was a 32 year man. He was also a father, and was described as being an amazing dad. He came from a loving family, but he was raised by a single mom. His sister, Zaire, was interviewed in this episode and she said their family didn’t have a lot growing up, but Anthony always told them to be grateful for what they did have.
Zaire also said that Anthony was popular, strong and fun. She said people always wanted to be around him.
The Murder
On August 27, 2017, a 911 call came into the Evansville, Indiana police. There had been a shooting at the American Legion Bar in downtown Evansville.
American Legion Bar on Chestnut in Evansville
There were several people running away from the bar, as the shooting happened when people were inside and outside the bar. When the police arrived, they did their best to tape off the scene and get people to leave the area so they didn’t contaminate the scene.
Anthony was still breathing when the police arrived, but they found many gunshot wounds on him. He had been shot with a .9mm gun. The police also found bullets around the area.
The ambulance arrived soon after, but it was too late. Anthony’s wounds were too severe and he died when he got to the hospital.
Anthony’s family was notified about the shooting and his death.
Investigation
The police at the scene spoke to the manager of the bar, and they asked if they had working security cameras. The manager said yes, but that he needed to call in another manager because he didn’t know how to work the equipment.
While the police were at the scene, there was another call about another shooting. It ended up not being related to Anthony’s murder, and no one else died or was injured from it.
They also received a call that there was another shooting victim from the Legion bar, he was still alive and was only shot in the thigh. An officer went to the hospital to speak to him. He didn’t know or see anything, all he said was that there were arguments at the bar and that he heard gun shots. He didn’t know anything, and the police left him to be treated.
The other manager finally was able to download the security footage and the police took it back to the station to look at it.
The Security Footage
On the security footage, Anthony was identified because of his distinct red baseball cap that was found near him at the scene. It looked like he was outside the bar and was arguing with another man.
The argument soon turned physical and Anthony is seen going down after being shot. The shooter then ran away.
The police went over the footage again to see if there were any witnesses that could identify the shooter, and they found a woman who seemed like she knew the shooter. She is brought in to be questioned.
The Shooter is Identified
The woman, who is not identified or seen in this episode, is brought in and questioned.
They showed the woman the tape, and she said yes that was her, and that’s the man who shot Anthony.
The police knew that the woman wasn’t telling them everything. She said she was scared to identify the man because she had a baby. She wanted to cooperate, but she afraid for her safety. The police told her they would help her, but they really needed to get this man off the street because he had murdered someone.
The woman said the man’s last name which was Bushrod. The police were able to identify the man because of his lengthy record. His name was Darius Bushrod, and the woman identified him in a six picture line up. He also matched the description from the video from the bar.
Darius Bushrod
Arrest and Conviction
It took several months for the police to find Darius. They thought he was on the run, and maybe had changed his appearance. However, he was in Evansville the whole time at his girlfriend’s.
The police went to the house to arrest him. They were nervous about arresting him, thinking he could have been armed, but he was arrested without incident.
Darius didn’t talk, the police said he knew a lot about the system and knew not to say anything. The police had enough evidence to convict him.
On October 23, 2018, Darius Bushrod was convicted of the first degree murder of Anthony Blaylock, and sentenced to 75 years in prison.
Other
The police don’t know why Anthony was killed because Darius never actually confessed. The police’s theory is that Darius might have wanted money and Anthony said no, or that the two men were just arguing and Darius pulled out his gun.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This is just so sad. It didn’t seem like the two men knew each other and Anthony was killed for absolutely no reason. A FATHER WAS KILLED FOR NO REASON, AND HE CAN’T BE WITH HIS KIDS OR WATCH THEM GROW UP.
At the end of this episode, Zaire, said if she could talk to her brother, she’d tell him that he has beautiful kids and that she’s proud of him. UGH, my heart.
I think Darius should stop being a coward and tell the police and Anthony’s family why he killed Anthony. He deserves to rot in prison forever.
Sources
https://www.14news.com/2018/10/23/man-sentenced-yrs-murder/
