By
Chris Summers
She
is 19-years-old and has a son, aged two. If things go well for her she
could be released from jail in 30 years' time. If things go badly, she
will be executed. No wonder Falicia Blakely has turned to religion.
Prosecutors
in Atlanta, Georgia have sought the death penalty in the case of Falicia
Blakely, who is accused of murdering three men over two sweltering days
last summer.
Her
lawyer is hoping they will drop the death penalty demand when they realise
her true age and take note of her "horrific upbringing".
When
Falicia Blakely, and her co-accused Ameshia Ervin, were arrested in the
toilet of a fast food restaurant in Atlanta, she was carrying documents
which suggested she was 24.
But
her lawyer, Ken Driggs, told BBC News Online: "She had actually faked
her ID a few years ago so she could get a licence to work in a nude
dancing club.
"In
fact she is only 19 and I hope that, once the prosecutors realise that,
they will drop the motion to seek the death penalty."
There
are few arguments about the basic facts of the case, which is due to come
to trial in the autumn.
Falicia
Blakely and Ameshia Ervin were arrested in the restroom of a diner called
Mrs Winner's, which they were apparently preparing to rob.
The
pair had committed a series of similar robberies in fried chicken
restaurants in Atlanta and the police were called when the owner became
suspicious.
Driving
dead man's car
When
police arrived and detained the pair, they realised they had been driving
a car belonging to a man who had been shot dead in his apartment a week
earlier.
Mr
Driggs said the pair apparently declined the offer of lawyers and gave
statements in which they confessed to killing three men.
Claudell
Christmas, 35, and his friend Raymond Goodwin, 34, had been robbed and
shot in an Atlanta apartment shortly before the murder of 29-year-old
Lemetrius Twitty.
Mr
Driggs said he did not want to play down the scale of the crimes his
client had confessed to, but he pointed out that she had had an "horrific
upbringing".
He
said: "She was brought up in Jacksonville, Florida, but barely knew
her father, who was in and out of prison on heroin charges.
"She
was bounced from mother to grandmother and was often pretty much living on
her own.
"When
she was 15 or 16 she followed her mother to Atlanta, but was soon moved
into a place on her own and got involved in nude dancing."
He
said: "She was a high school drop-out but she had a nice figure. That
is all she had to trade with."
But
it was an unhealthy environment and she fell prey to pimps and drug
pushers.
She
eventually teamed up with fellow dancer Ameshia Ervin, but Mr Driggs said:
"I'm not sure if the idea of robbery was entirely either girl's. They
are victims too.
"I
realise that this is hard for the victims' families but there are other
actors in this drama who are not on the rap sheet."
Mr
Driggs said his client had detoxified since being locked up and had become
very religious.
'Na�ve'
He
said: "Despite what she was doing, I'm struck by how na�ve she was.
I am not saying she was mentally retarded, but she was not equipped for
the life she was in."
But
DeKalb County's Assistant District Attorney, Tom Clegg, said the
defendants had shown "no remorse" and he described the killings
as "classic executions".
He
told BBC News Online: "They were almost like business propositions
for these young women."
He
said they were "100% certain" Falicia Blakely was the shooter.
Mr
Clegg said the first two victims were known to both women.
After
they were killed, the pair went to a club in the Buckhead area of Atlanta
and allegedly picked up Mr Twitty, who they lured back to an apartment
with promises of sex.
Mr
Clegg said: "It boggles my mind that someone could kill two people,
go to a nightclub and have a good time, pick up another poor guy and kill
him without batting an eyelid. You don't get more cold-blooded than that."
He
said there was an offer on the table to Ameshia Ervin that, in return for
pleading guilty and testifying against Ms Blakely, she would receive
concurrent life sentences and could be eligible for parole in 14 years.
Mr
Clegg said he was aware Falicia Blakely had supposedly had an "horrific
upbringing" and said if she were to plead guilty they would consider
offering her life without parole.
The
three victims' families will have a role in sentencing but Mr Clegg said
there was no "consensus".
"Some
of them are happy to accept a life sentence without parole for her, but
others were adamant that we seek the death penalty," said Mr Clegg.
Some
newspapers have drawn similarities with the case of Aileen Wuornos, a
prostitute who robbed and murdered at least six of her clients.
Mr
Driggs, for one, is hoping this case will turn out differently. In October
last year, Wuornos was executed by lethal injection in neighbouring
Florida.