New York man sentenced to life in prison for murder of Jamaican girlfriend, her son and her niece

NEW YORK, CMC – A New York man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2022 murders of his Jamaican girlfriend, Karlene Barnett, her son, Dervon Brightly, and her niece, Vashawna Malcolm, who was visiting from the island for the summer.

On Friday, Queens, New York District Attorney Melinda Katz said Travis Blake, 31, was convicted by a jury last month of murder in the first degree and other counts for the June 2022 incident.

Katz said the bodies of the victims were discovered with an array of puncture and blunt force wounds in a state of decomposition in their shared home in the Jamaica section of Queens.

“Travis Blake viciously murdered his girlfriend, her son, and a visiting cousin, with knives, hammers, and a screwdriver, and then fled New York to avoid capture,” Katz said.

“There are no words to describe the trauma and lifelong sorrow this defendant has caused for the family of Karlene Barnett, Dervon Brightly, and Vashawna Malcolm,” she added.

“This defendant deserves every day of his sentence, and we stand with the victims’ family as they continue to mourn this overwhelming loss.”

Blake, of 155th Street, in Jamaica, Queens, was found guilty by a jury on April 2 of murder in the first degree, three counts of murder in the second degree, and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree following a three-and-a-half-week-long trial.

Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant, who presided at trial, sentenced the defendant on Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the first-degree murder charge, 25 years to life in prison on each charge of murder in the second degree, and 364 days in jail on each weapon charge.

The sentences on the second-degree murder charges are to be served consecutively to one another for a minimum sentence of 75 years, and concurrently to the sentence imposed on the first-degree murder charge.

According to the indictment and trial testimony, on June 24, 2022, at about 2:15 p.m., Emergency Medical Services responded to a 911 call from a resident at a single-family home on 155th Street about a deceased person.

The caller, a son of the homeowner, was inside the home when he encountered a foul odour and discovered the body of his cousin, Vashawna Malcolm, 22, on top of a bed in an upstairs bedroom in an advanced state of decomposition, the indictment and trial testimony say.

The indictment and trial testimony say police then discovered two more bodies behind a locked door to the basement.

According to trial records, Barnett met Blake at work, and the two were dating.

They lived in the home together with Barnett’s son, Brightly, and Malcolm, a nursing student and Barnett’s niece, who visiting from the island of Jamaica for the summer.

A fifth person, Barnett’s other son, also lived in the home.

Katz said Blake was apprehended in Maine weeks after the incident and extradited to Queens.

She said police found a blood-covered screwdriver with a missing bit beside Brightly’s body.

The missing bit was later recovered from Brightly’s neck during his autopsy.

During the trial, Katz said DNA evidence from the crime scene was presented linking Blake to a blood-stained shirt and bloody footprints found on the basement floor next to Barnett’s body.

Katz said a fingerprint matching the defendant was also discovered on a blood-stained mop on the stairs leading to the basement.

“Internet activity from a phone used by Blake reflected that he was researching which states had the death penalty in 2022,” Katz said.

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