Saying there was “substantial evidence” of guilt and no corroboration for an alibi defense, a state appeals court has affirmed the conviction of Tyree Bluford, 35, in the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Towana Gaines in the Bentley Woods apartments in Glassboro on October 10, 2017.
According to authorities, Bluford is serving a 24 year state prison sentence imposed on September 8, 2009 for his aggravated manslaughter conviction in the shooting.
Officials said Bluford appealed the rejection of his claim because his attorney provided an ineffective defense since he failed to find and investigate alibi witnesses.
In its ruling, an appellate court panel court on Jan. 5th recited trial evidence of Bluford’s guilt, including witness testimony that Gaines identified him as her
assailant and testimony that Bluford admitted he shot Gaines because she was an informant.
The court also cited the testimony of Bluford’s lawyer at a post-conviction relief hearing in which he said his client offered no substantiation that would make an alibi a “workable theory.” The attorney had “virtually no basis to establish an alibi defense,” the appeals judges wrote.