PAINESVILLE, Ohio — The man on trial for a double-homicide that occurred in Lake County January 2020 took his own life in the court parking lot Friday afternoon, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Blake Sargi, 28, was on trial for the deaths of 38-year-old Heavenly Goddess Murphy-Jackson and 39-year-old William Larondez Jackson Jr.
On Jan. 4, 2020, a woman called the sheriff’s office to tell them her stepson had killed two people inside a vehicle parked on Andrea Drive in Concord Township. She told the dispatcher that her stepson went back to the home of his mother and stepfather just about a half-mile away on Oakridge Drive.
Deputies responded to Andrea Drive and found a male and female with apparent gunshot wounds to the head inside a white Yukon. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene. At the same time, deputies responded to a home on Oakridge Drive, where the stepmother told authorities Sargi was located.
Members of the Lake County SWAT team negotiated with Sargi for about 45 minutes before he came out of the home and peacefully surrendered. He was taken to the Lake County Jail and pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder.
Days later, Sargi's family posted 10% of his $10 million bond and he was released from jail.
On Friday, Sargi was returning from his home to the courthouse after being notified that a jury had returned a final verdict. He never entered the courthouse, killing himself in the parking lot, deputies said.
Sargi died from a single self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the preliminary investigation.
The incident is under investigation by the Lake County Sheriff's Office Detective Bureau and the Lake County Coroner's Office.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Call 1-800-273-8255 if you are experiencing thoughts of suicide or mental distress.
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