Blake given death penalty

Erica Johnson and Molly Ball

Wednesday, March 31, 2004 | 11:39 a.m.

A Clark County jury ruled this morning that Alfonso "Slinkey" Blake should be executed for killing two women.

Blake cried and rocked back and forth in his chair as the verdict was read. Two of his relatives stormed out of the courtroom.

Members of the victims' families, who sat together, cried.

Blake was convicted last week of shooting three young women, killing two. The jury ruled that he should receive the death penalty for each of the two murders.

The surviving victim, family and friends gave emotional testimony in the trial and the subsequent hearing to determine whether he would serve life in prison or be given the death penalty.

On Tuesday, Blake spoke to the jury for the first time, and his attorney tried to persuade the jury to sentence Blake to life in prison.

"There are not enough words to express my apology to the mothers and to the fathers and the rest of the family members and friends" of the victims, Blake, 33, told the court. "There are not enough words to express the remorse, the pain and the torment I'm going through too."

His shoulders hunched and his head bowed, Blake sniffled as he spoke but did not appear to shed tears as he had during other people's testimony. An aspiring R & B performer, he said he was nonetheless a shy man who was only moved to speak because "I may not have the chance to say what's on my heart again."

"If I could turn back time there would be no pain here today, none whatsoever," Blake said. "If only I had the power to give some type of remedy to the broken hearts, I would give it."

But jurors, some of whom had wept when they heard the victims' families' stories, looked skeptical or even bored, and prosecutors later questioned Blake's sincerity.

"Is he truly sorry for having committed the crime, or is he sorry he got caught, sorry he's being brought to justice, sorry he's going to be punished for his conduct?" Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli asked in his closing argument. "Are his tears for him?"

Tuesday was the second and final day in the penalty phase of Blake's trial, after his conviction last week on two counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder.

During the trial, witnesses testified that Blake forced Priscilla Van Dine, 22, and sisters Kim and Sophear Choy, 23 and 19, onto their hands and knees in the desert, then fired twice at each woman's head.

Kim Choy survived and testified that Blake had become angry when the three women, who worked as topless dancers, changed their minds about renting rooms from him.

In Tuesday's sentencing hearing, Blake's ex-girlfriend Melanie Flowers also testified in his defense. After the couple broke up more than 10 years ago, Blake remained a loyal friend and helped her care for her child by another man, Flowers said.

And Blake's mother Verna Peters, a frail-looking, gaunt woman in a wheelchair, said her son was "very kind" and "loved his family very dearly."

Blake's brother and sister testified Monday, as did relatives of the victims.

In his closing, defense attorney Pete Christiansen tried to convince the jury that putting Blake to death wouldn't solve anything and would only cause more pain.

"You can either follow the example that has been set by Mr. Blake or choose not to perpetuate the violence," Christiansen said.

But prosecutor Robert Daskas said Blake deserved at least a life sentence without parole for the first killing alone, and additional punishment was necessary for his other crimes. If Blake were not sentenced to death, Daskas said, "It sends a message to other criminals that they might as well kill the witnesses."