The Aniah Blanchard Case: College Gas Station Kidnapping

She reached for the gun in an attempt to save her life right before she was shot.

[Auburn, Alabama]

It is a cliche saying, but 19-year-old, Aniah Haley Blanchard, was the glue that kept her family so happy and strong. She had a motherly instinct from a young age that she inherited after her watching her mother, Angela Harris, serve as a nurse. Aniah’s kindness showered those around her with a sense of love and peace, but her level of protection for friends and family also produced an immense amount of comfort. If you needed any type of advice, help, or protection, Aniah was also the force to call.

Her mother, Angela, met a well-known heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter, Walt Harris, in 2003. The couple tied the knot and eventually welcomed two younger children into their family. Aniah thrived as an older sister. She took on the motherly role making sure her younger brother and sister brushed their teeth before bed as her mother spent long hours behind hospital doors during her shifts.