31-year-old Travis Blake of 155th Street, Jamaica, was declared guilty of first-degree murder following his savage onslaught in June 2022 that led to the death of his girlfriend, her son, and her cousin. A trial on Tuesday confirmed his conviction for these brutal stabbing deaths, which were part of a chilling bloodbath that shocked the local community. Post the three and a half week trial, the jury, within two hours of deliberation, unanimously found Blake guilty of the charges in Queens Supreme Court. Given his crimes, Blake now stands to face a lifetime behind bars.
Trial testimonies and indictment documents reveal that a troubling discovery was made at around 2:15 p.m. on June 24, 2022, inside a house at 116-11 155th St. Officers from the 113th Precinct of the Jamaica police, accompanied by an EMS team, responded to a distress call from the property. The caller happened to be a resident, the son of the homeowner, who found his cousin’s body when he noticed a foul smell inside the house.
The victim, a 22-year-old woman named Vashawna Malcolm, was found on a bed in one of the upstairs bedrooms in an advanced state of decomposition. Her body was bound by duct tape around the wrists, ankles, and mouth. She was undressed from the waist down and had suffered four stab wounds, three to her chest, and one to her neck. However, the horrifying saga didn’t end there.
Upon further inspection, police found two more bodies locked behind a cellar door. The body of the 55-year-old house owner Karlene Barnett was found in a pool of her blood. She had sustained severe injuries including ten stab wounds on her back, a fatal stab wound to her head, and multiple fractures to her skull. In a different basement room, they found 36-year-old Dervon Brightly, whose body was riddled with 13 puncture wounds from a screwdriver, driven into his neck, and evidence of additional trauma inflicted by a hammer.
Trial documents reveal that Barnett and Blake were romantically involved after having met at their workplace. They shared their residence with Barnett’s son, Dervon Brightly, and her visiting niece, Vashawna Malcolm, a nursing student originally from Jamaica. Barnett’s second son also lived in the house with them.
Surveillance footage of the home exterior, brought to light during the trial, showed Blake making several entries and exits between June 22 and June 24. The same camera caught Brightly returning home around 2:55 p.m. on June 22, wearing a distinct striped shirt. That shirt became relevant when Brightly’s bloody body was found in the basement wearing the same attire.
Travis Blake fled the city after the gruesome act, but his escape was brief. He was located in Bar Harbor, Maine, several weeks later and then extradited back to Queens. Significantly, the surveillance footage showed Blake in a green shirt prior to Brightly’s return on June 22, then leaving the house with no shirt on and a bandage around one hand, soon after Brightly’s entry.
Karlene Barnett was last seen on video returning home on June 22 around 7:30 p.m., the time and day she was last seen alive. When found, she was wearing the same jacket that she was seen wearing when she returned home that night. The last confirmed sighting of Blake was at 1:00 a.m. on June 24, seen walking towards Sutphin Boulevard before getting into a taxi.
The crime scene bore horrific evidence that lined up with the savage brutality of the crime. A bloody screwdriver, sans bit, was found next to Brightly’s body. The lost bit was eventually recovered from Brightly’s neck during his post-mortem. Inside the residence, the authorities also found a bloodied hammer and a bucket along with cleaning supplies marked with blood stains.
The crime scene investigation team also found an empty roll of duct tape and a green shirt splattered with blood. Blake, in his vicious act, had not only killed his girlfriend, her son, but also a visiting relative before managing to escape. Another occupant of the household came upon one of the bodies and alerted the police, leading to the macabre discovery of two more victims who had been dead for over 36 hours.
After committing the heinous crime, Blake had run away from New York City. However, his run was short-lived. The NYPD’s Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended him in Bar Harbor, Maine, after a brief manhunt, in cooperation with local law enforcement. Despite Blake’s attempts to fight his extradition, he was transported back to Queens later that summer.
Upon his return to Queens on September 16, 2024, Blake was brought into the 113th Precinct. He was connected to the murder scene through DNA evidence from the blood on the green shirt found in the house, and footprints in blood discovered on the basement floor next to Barnett’s body. His fingerprint was found on a blood-stained mop on the stairs leading to the basement, providing further damning evidence.
The court proceedings began on March 12, with closing statements being made on March 31. When the jury gave its verdict, they found Blake guilty of multiple charges: aside from the first-degree murder, he was also convicted of three counts of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal weapon possession.
The Queens Supreme Court Justice, who oversaw the trial, scheduled May 1 for the sentencing of Blake. He now faces a possible sentence of lifelong imprisonment without the opportunity for parole. Having been apprehended and returned to New York for his trial, Blake’s attempt to evade the law ultimately failed. The jury’s verdict solidified Blake’s fate, finding him irrefutably guilty of first-degree murder.
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