The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Man accused in murder apparently shoots, kills self
Incident occurred before verdict was read
The Concord Township man accused of murdering a Euclid couple died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound outside the Lake County Common Pleas Courthouse in Painesville before the verdict was read Oct. 1.
The trial of 28-year-old Blake Sargi began Sept. 20 in front of Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge Pat Condon. Closing arguments in the case were heard Sept. 30 and the jury began its deliberations.
The jury reached a verdict in the afternoon Oct. 1 and people were being reassembled into the courtroom, Lake County Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Jeff Sherwood said. Sargi had been out of jail on bond since a family member posted a $1 million cashier’s check Jan. 7, 2020. He was returning from his home for the verdict.
“The suspect in the case, Mr. Sargi, didn’t go upstairs, he instead went to the side of the courthouse where it appears he shot himself,” Sherwood said.
Sherwood said the incident occurred around 2:50 p.m.
Sargi was never inside the courthouse on Oct. 1, and the incident occurred in the parking lot.
An investigation is underway and the Lake County Coroner’s Office was seen around 3:30 p.m. at the scene.
Sherwood said that an official cause of death will be released at a later time.
“All indications at this point is a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” he said.
Sargi was facing four counts of aggravated murder and four counts of murder. All eight of those charges are unclassified felonies. He was also facing four counts of first-degree felony aggravated robbery, four counts of second-degree felony robbery, and two counts of fourthdegree felony aggravated drug trafficking.
The charges stem from the Jan. 4, 2020, shooting deaths of Heavenly Goddess Murphy-Jackson, 38, and William Larondez Jackson Jr., 39, who were found dead in their vehicle in the 7500 block Andrea Drive in Concord Township.
Assistant Lake County Prosecutor Jenny Azouri called the shooting a “setup” during her opening argument Sept. 20.
“The defendant, out of money, addicted to pain pills — desperate for pain pills that he ran out of on that date — and having run out of all options, decided he would steal for them if he had to,” she said. “He would rob for them if he had to and he would kill for them if he had to.”
Defense attorney Angelo F. Lonardo said in his opening argument Sept. 20 that Sargi suffered from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.
“The pain is extraordinary.” Lonardo said. “It’s also called the suicide disease because people just can’t take it anymore…”
Sargi was receiving opioid-based pain medication from doctors. Lonardo said that doctors finally got to the point they were prescribing the most they could by law. He said that Sargi would go through those pills “in short order because the pain was relentless.”
“He would deal with people on the street so he could get backup medication, so he could always have enough pills to get through the month,” Lonardo argued.”
Sargi had allegedly been buying drugs from Jackson Jr. in the months leading up to the shooting. Lonardo argued that Sargi acted in self-defense on the night of the shooting.