On a cold January weekend in 2019, Westfield police received a 911 call from 24-year-old Blake Scanlan. On the line he confessed to killing his girlfriend. When officers arrived at his White Street apartment, they found the body of 20-year-old Alexis Avery lying in the kitchen, stabbed 28 times. Scanlan himself bore knife wounds, but it was Avery who paid the ultimate price.

Avery Was Stalked by Her Boyfriend All Night

Avery had gone out for what should have been an ordinary night of fun with her cousin and a coworker. She was just beginning to imagine a future outside her on-again, off-again relationship with Scanlan. But when Scanlan showed up uninvited at the bars she visited, watching from the shadows as she talked and flirted with someone new, the evening turned dark. Hours later, Avery would never make it home.

Scanlan Immediately Tried To Cover Up The Crime

Investigators pieced together how Scanlan lured her back to the apartment they once shared, where his rage spilled over into fatal violence. For more than a day, Avery’s body remained in the kitchen as Scanlan texted her family from her phone, pretending she was still alive. He even tried to soothe suspicions by telling her mother, who was caring for their baby daughter Darla, that both he and Alexis “weren’t feeling well.”

Scanlan Gave Himself Up, But Avery Was Gone

But the truth could not be concealed forever. When Alexis missed plans to pick up her child, her family’s alarm grew. By Sunday morning, faced with the inevitability of discovery, Scanlan finally dialed 911. What followed was years of courtroom proceedings, grim testimony, and emotional devastation. Witnesses described Avery’s last hours—the pink sweater she wore out that night, the drinks with friends, the unease of checking her phone because Scanlan tracked her location. Jurors heard from her cousin, Caitlyn, who recalled the moment she saw Scanlan appear at a bar, standing stiffly near the pool tables, watching Alexis laugh with someone else.

The Jury Put Scanlan in Prison For Life

Prosecutors argued that Scanlan’s jealousy, his conviction that Avery was slipping beyond his control, drove him to an act of staggering brutality. The defense leaned on claims of a man overwhelmed by heartbreak, but jurors rejected that argument. After only a brief deliberation, they returned a verdict of first-degree murder. Scanlan was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.