A Queens man, Travis Blake, has been convicted for a brutal triple homicide involving his girlfriend, her son, and her cousin. In June 2022, Blake carried out the killings in the Jamaica home he shared with the victims, as reported by the Queens District Attorney's Office.
According to the DA's Office, Blake, 31, was found guilty of murder in the first degree, alongside other charges, and he is now facing a life sentence without parole; he carries the weight of his actions, the terrible murders of his girlfriend Karlene Barnett, her son Dervon Brightly, and their cousin Vashawna Malcolm, whose bodies were discovered in various stages of decomposition after being dead for over 36 hours. The investigation revealed a grisly scene with multiple stab wounds and blunt force injuries inflicted upon the victims.
The jury took around two hours to deliver their verdict after a trial that spanned over three weeks. A resident of the home, upon smelling a foul odor, uncovered one body, ultimately leading to the horrifying discovery of the additional victims.
Video surveillance showed Blake's movements before and after the incidents as trial records detailed the defendant entering and leaving the residence multiple times between June 22 and June 24, and while Blake fled New York shortly after the killings, he was apprehended in Bar Harbor, Maine, extradited back to Queens, where DNA evidence and a bloody trail connected him to the shocking crimes. The legal process concluded with Blake's conviction, a verdict that speaks to the irrefutable presence of DNA evidence on the blood-stained shirt and the bloody footprints found beside Barnett's slain form.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jonathan A. Selkowe and ADA Ashley Clement under the guidance of ADA John Kosinski and Executive ADA for Major Crimes Shawn Clark, as mentioned by the Queens District Attorney’s Office. Travis Blake is scheduled to be sentenced on May 1, presided over by Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant.
