In the quiet early morning of October 1, 2022, a grim discovery was made inside an apartment in Hoover, Alabama, forever altering the lives of two families. Twenty-four-year-old Blakeley Meachelle Nelson, a female, and another woman, Lauren Anne White, 39, were found unresponsive. Emergency services were called to The Park at Hoover apartment complex shortly before 8 a.m. Upon arrival, both women were pronounced dead at the scene from gunshot wounds.
Nelson, a graduate of Ohatchee High School, was a mother to two young daughters, ages five and two at the time of her death.
The Hoover Police Department quickly launched a homicide investigation, determining that the women were targeted. Their investigation led them to identify 21-year-old Daxton Elliot Keith of Alabaster as a suspect. Keith, who was an acquaintance of both Nelson and White, was taken into custody later that same day. He was subsequently charged with two counts of capital murder and held without bond.
As the investigation continued, a second suspect was identified. On November 9, 2022, 20-year-old An'ton Je'horam Lewis of Birmingham was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Apprehension Task Force. Lewis was also known to the victims and was charged with capital murder. In July 2023, a grand jury in Jefferson County indicted both Keith and Lewis on capital murder charges in connection with the double homicide. As of August 2023, both men were in custody awaiting trial.
