'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAUACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABhAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABwgQAAAFBAIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBAURAgMGIRYiEhSzAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAFEQACAgMBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAABAwQFAhESAEH/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AKtjuNKXnhriTlWntpW0pT0258+hR2nW9mM95ErPkDtNBT76j6GAAClny5llbJczvBDhisaA5Hl7ivhw4FU1Chhm6P0w7J6Ogfvv/9k='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, Lawrence Paul Anderson was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to brutally killing three people and critically injuring one in 2021.
Trigger warning: This article contains content that some viewers may find disturbing. Discretion is advised.
Prosecutors said that Lawrence Paul Anderson pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, one count of assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and one count of maiming.
He was accused of killing his neighbor Andrea Blankenship, 41, his uncle, Leon Pye, 67, and Pye’s four-year-old granddaughter, Kaeos Yates.
Anderson’s aunt, who was also stabbed during the incident, survived the attack but was critically wounded by the suspect.
Lawrence Paul Anderson sentenced to five consecutive life sentences
On Wednesday, Grady County District Attorney Jason Hicks announced that Lawrence Paul Anderson will serve five consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for the gruesome killing of three victims who were stabbed multiple times in February 2021.
As per multiple reports, Anderson, a convicted crack cocaine dealer, attacked his uncle, aunt, and their four-year-old granddaughter on February 9, 2021. This was after he had stabbed their neighbor, Andrea Blankenship, to death at her home and ripped out her heart.
Anderson then walked to his aunt and uncle’s place, where he cooked the heart to serve his family before stabbing them multiple times in their home. The aunt, who survived, said that god was with her during the horrific incident.
At the time, Anderson, who was arrested at the scene, confessed to the killings and told the officers that he wanted to serve the heart of his neighbor to his family so he could “free” their “demons.”
As per the Oklahoman, Hicks said that while the state wanted to pursue the death penalty, they reconsidered after the victim’s family opted out of a trial stating that they did not want to relive or hear the grisly details of the killings.
"A lot of that was tied to they don't want a trial. They don't want to sit in a courtroom and listen to all the gory details of what happened to their loved ones."
He added:
"These families have lost pretty much everything. As you can imagine, Delsie Pye lost her husband and one of her grandchildren and was attacked at the same time. And watched both of those people, watched both of them die, watched Lawrence Anderson take their lives."
Weeks before the incident, Lawrence Paul Anderson was wrongly released from prison
As per multiple reports, three weeks before the gruesome killings, Lawrence Paul Anderson, a convicted crack cocaine dealer, was released from prison by mistake after Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted his prison sentence.
An investigation into the oversight revealed that Anderson was mistakenly placed on the commutation docket in August 2019 after the board rejected his previous commutation request in July 2019. It should be noted that an inmate has to wait three years before reapplying for commutation.
In addition to the life sentence, Anderson was also asked to pay $95,000 in restitution to the victim's family.
