Inset: Alyssa M. Blackburn (Escambia County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Florida residence where Blackburn and two others were involved in the murder of her boyfriend in 2022 (Google Maps).
A 25-year-old woman in Florida will spend her life in prison without the possibility of parole after aiding two men in the murder of her boyfriend, who was shot dead while hiding from the intruders in his home.
On Wednesday, Alyssa Marie Blackburn was sentenced by First Judicial Circuit Judge Amy P. Brodersen to life imprisonment in a state correctional facility for her involvement in the 2022 murder of Jesse Geoghagan, court records indicate.
In August, a jury in Escambia County found Blackburn guilty of being a principal to second-degree murder, which means she participated in or supported the killing. Prosecutors had previously described the act as a “search and destroy mission.”
The men who sought out and killed Geoghagan, Jacob Colville and Lawrence Bonner Jr., were also convicted of murder.
The shooter, Colville, was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder by a jury in June 2024 and received a life sentence. In August 2024, Bonner reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead no contest to second-degree murder and to help build the case against Blackburn. He was sentenced to five years in prison, with over 1,000 days credited for time already served.
Before Judge Brodersen delivered the sentence, several family members of the victim addressed the court, pleading with the judge to ensure Blackburn serves a life sentence. Geoghagan’s sister, Ashley Arnold, described the impact of her brother’s murder as devastating.
“Now that he’s gone, everything is different. He was just trying to come home that day, and now he’s sitting on a shelf in my house,” she said, per a report from the Pensacola News Journal, adding, “A whole part of me is gone.”
According to court documents, the attack took place on Oct. 29, 2022, at Geoghagan’s home in the 1000 block of Medford Avenue in Pensacola, Florida, which is just a few miles from the state’s western border with Alabama.
In the immediate aftermath of the murder, Blackburn told investigators that she had been at Geoghagan’s house on the night of the murder, but was walking the dog during the home invasion and shooting. She said when she returned, she had to jump the fence and go through the back door, which is where she found Geoghagan “on the floor in the living room with multiple gunshot wounds.”
However, eyewitness statements and security camera footage obtained by investigators undercut the now-convicted killer’s story.
“The video surveillance reveals that Blackburn arrives at the residence armed with a black semi-automatic handgun where she enters the residence to look for Geoghagan but exits upon not locating him,” police wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “Based off the video surveillance and an eye witness statement, Blackburn exits the residence and notifies Colville and Bonner that Geoghagan is inside the residence. After the initial ‘sweep’ of the residence is completed and Geoghagan isn’t located, Colville exits the residence where he contacts Blackburn via phone to confirm whether Geoghagan is inside the residence (this phone call was confirmed from Blackburn’s cellular phone). Colville then hangs up the phone call with Blackburn and re-enters the residence where he eventually locates and murders Geoghagan.”
Geoghagan had been “hiding in the closet” of his bedroom when Colville performed a “sweep” of the home, found him, and shot him multiple times.
During the trial, prosecutors reportedly showed jurors text messages that showed Blackburn knew that Colville and Bonner were going to kill Geoghagan.
