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Robert Blackburn was a nice guy. Him and his friends, on the day of the 16th, were gathered together to celebrate
his 21st birthday. That night they would go out and hang at the local clubs...something Robert had always wanted to
do...but couldn't because he wasn't of age. At first everything was going exactly as planned, they had good music, good
food, and most importantly...having a good time. Around 5:30 that evening Robert's maid, Lash Lancely, was to
serve the guests and him birthday cake. Well, 5:30 rolls around and everyone gathers around the table to enjoy the delicious
homemade cake, but Lash didn't show up then. It wasn't until 15 minutes later did he show up, claiming that Publix
had run out of every brand of granulated sugar there was to be sold...and had to go across town to Goodings to pick some up.
As lame as it seems, Robert bought the excuse and sent him on his way. But before he could go, he had to serve the cake
to everybody there. He carefully cut equal pieces of cake for each of the 10 members who attended the party and finally
cut a big piece for Robert. He noticed as she was putting the cake onto his plate that there was a big blob of white
powder stuff on the side of his piece. He asked him what this was and she replied that it was just some extra sugar
that had stuck onto the cake after having baked it. So, he ignores the "sugar" and begins to eat. Once getting
to the part where all this "sugar" seems to have shown up, he takes note that there is a very strong tart taste to this portion
of his dessert. Instead of questioning Lash a third time he decided to let it go...it probably wasn't his fault.
Later, the group went to a local club: Wine-sters, where DJ Raindrop played fantastic club mixes. Robert soon (right
as he was about to purchase himself a bloody mary) began to feel queasy. The group decided it would be best to stop
clubbing for the night and to take Robert back home where he could rest. They might go clubbing when he felt better.
That night...he continued to have severe pain in his lower abdomen and extremely horrendus headaches..which continued till
early the next day. On April 17th, 2004, Robert Blackburn past away, only a day after his 21st birthday.
A couple days after his passing an autopsy was done to see what had caused his sudden death. The conclusion was
that he had been poisoned. They even got the type of poison: rat poison. All the party guests were interviewed
to which none of them knew anything about rat poison and had never had to use it for any circumstance. Even the disgruntled
maid, Lash Lancely, denied knowing anything. However, 2 days later rat poison was found hidden behind the sugar in the
kitchen pantry. He denied knowing how it got there. It was determined that the rat poison had been purchased on
the 16th. Investigators went to the Publix that evening and questioned employees if a male who had short brown
hair, green eyes, and a t-shirt that said...I'm employeed by that b***ard: Robert Blackburn at the store. Nobody seemed
to remember seeing anyone matching that description in the store the day of the 16th. A picture was also shown...still
noone remembered him being there. They then asked the manager if the store had been out of stock on all brands of sugar
that day. He replied, "No. We had plenty of sugar..all brands...we had to keep them in stock because it was on
of our green-tag sale items that day." The investigators thanked everyone for their help and left. Next, they
decided they'd go to Goodings across town...where Lash told Robert that she had been forced to go, since no sugar had
been at the local Publix. The same description questions were asked and the same picture shown to employees of Goodings
as well. One cashier recognized him immediatley. She said that she had checked him out that day..he had 3
items: rat poison, birthday candals, and finally matches. The cashier gave investigators a copy of the reciept handed
to Lancely that day, they thanked her and went on their way.
Lancely has now been arrested for murder in the first degree. She is to go on trial in July of 2004.
If he is found guilty he could face 25 to life with parole after 10 years.
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