CLEVELAND — Malik Blackwell, who was convicted earlier this month for the 2023 murders of two men in Cleveland, has been sentenced to life in prison by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Clancy.
The 23-year-old Blackwell will not be eligible for parole until he serves 68 years behind bars.
“This man is a violent individual who deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars and with this sentence, he will not be eligible for release until he is 91 years old,” said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley in a statement. “He killed two people, 61-year-old Timothy Nash, and 40-year-old Anthony Norman — his own cousin — within three months. Our community is much safer with him off the streets.”
Investigators say Blackwell fatally shot Nash on January 23, 2023 at a residence near East 61st Street and Central Avenue in Cleveland. A warrant for Blackwell's arrest was subsequently issued.
In addition, prosecutors said that Blackwell and Christopher Thompson, 28, "ambushed" Norman outside a residence near Anson Avenue and East 49th Street in Cleveland on April 7, 2023. Norman was shot "multiple times" and was left "lying next to a vehicle."
"The cases were investigated by CDP's (Cleveland Division of Police) Homicide Unit. Surveillance evidence, firearm evidence, and cell phone records linked Malik Blackwell to both murders," the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office noted in its release.
The U.S. Marshals' Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force captured Blackwell at an apartment in Euclid on May 4, 2023.
Blackwell was found guilty by a jury on two counts of aggravated murder, four counts of murder, and four counts of felonious assault on June 14. Clancy also found Blackwell guilty on two counts of having weapons while under disability.
Earlier this month, Thompson pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to six years in prison on Thursday by Clancy.
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