In the quiet suburbs of Huntsville, Alabama, Mary Blevins, a 77-year-old woman, lived a life that was tragically cut short on the evening of September 11, 2017. What began as a seemingly ordinary day ended in a shocking act of violence that would also claim the life of another individual and leave a community in disbelief.
That evening, a 27-year-old man named Otis Mayes, who was an acquaintance of Blevins, visited her home on Windham Street.
After entering the residence, Mayes shot Blevins and proceeded to steal prescription medication. This violent encounter marked the beginning of a deadly sequence of events.
Leaving Blevins' home, Mayes then drove to Halsey Avenue, where he targeted a second victim, 59-year-old Nancy Louise Young. In an act of random violence, Mayes knocked on Young's door, and when she opened it, he fatally shot her before stealing her vehicle. The motive for this brutal double homicide was not immediately clear to investigators, though they believed Mayes acted alone.
The crime spree came to an end when Mayes crashed the stolen vehicle on Greene Street. He attempted to flee the scene on foot but was swiftly apprehended by Huntsville Police officers near a local utilities building. Upon his arrest, a handgun was found in his possession, linking him directly to the two homicides.
Following his capture, Otis Mayes was charged with two counts of capital murder in connection with the deaths of Mary Blevins and Nancy Louise Young. He was subsequently booked into the Madison County Jail, leaving a community to mourn the senseless loss of two of its members. The case then moved to the judicial system to determine the fate of the man responsible for this tragic chain of events. As of early 2026, publicly available information does not detail the final outcome of the trial, conviction, or sentencing of Otis Mayes.
