Pregnant Ohio Teen Brutally Murdered in Savage Killing

She filed a police report and a. protection order. She said, "Mom, once he finds out what I. did, he's going to kill me, Mom.". And then he did. >> A young pregnant woman told her mom that. her abusive ex-boyfriend would kill her. for going to police. And he did. Now, that man has been sentenced to decades. in prison for murdering the 19-year-old. and their unborn child. There's so many. layers to this case, like a long history. of violence, guilty ple, and an active. arrest warrant that's never been served.

We're breaking down everything we know. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Elizabeth Milner in for Jesse. Weber. [Music]. This heartbreaking case has finally. reached its conclusion. 24y old Devon. Blair has a welld documented history of. abuse. And now he'll be serving the next. few decades in prison for the brutal. murder of his ex-girlfriend, 19-year-old. Brooke Deini, who was pregnant with her. unborn son when she died. Despite. pleading guilty to a prior assault in. December of 2023, where he dragged. Brooke naked by her hair at knife point,

Devon Blair remained free on bond. What's even more shocking is he had an. active warrant for violating the terms. of his release just days before Brook's. murder. So, how did we get here? Well, last summer, a text came in to 911 after. a person heard screams coming from. Brook's home in Columbus, Ohio. This is. what the official arrest report says. On. June 16th, 2024, at 7:28 a.m., Columbus. police officers were dispatched to the. 4600 block of Parkwick Drive on a. domestic violence incident. Upon. arrival, the officers located a victim.

identified as Brooke Deini, aged 19, injured and unresponsive. Franklin. Township Fire Medics arrived and. transported Deini to a local hospital in. critical condition from blunt force. trauma injuries. Deini was pronounced. deceased at 8:45 a.m. Deini was pregnant. at the time of her death. According to. the Columbus Dispatch, Brooke was 14. weeks pregnant and she was planning to. have a boy that she reportedly was going. to name Aiden. The report goes on to. describe the suspect's attempt to flee. the scene. It reads, quote, "The first. arriving units observed a suspect.

fleeing the location, but were unable to. make an apprehension. After an hours's. long search, the suspect identified as. Devon Blair, a 23, was taken into. custody. Blair had active arrest. warrants at the time of this incident.". Now, according to the report, Devon was. on the run when officers responded to. that 911 text. We'll dive into his. violent past in just a bit, but first, watch how this chase unfolded. As police. arrive, you can hear officers discussing. Devon's outstanding warrants. He's got a. felony warrant. It's essentially part of. what we're doing is working a 50A.

>> Okay. Yeah. >> So, I would treat it the same way. 4623. >> Yeah. There he is. He's running. Hands up. You're under arrest.

Now, while some of the officers chased. down Devon, others discovered that. horrific scene inside Brook's home. I think he's back at the house. Got some. screaming inside. >> Tell my sister. >> Where's Where's your sister? Is he.

inside? >> Is he inside? >> No, he he dipped. I don't. >> Where's your sister? >> She's upstairs. >> Upstairs to the left. >> The search for Devon Blair ended up. leading officers to a vacant church. where he was finally cornered. >> Columbus police, if you're here, sound. off. You just have to go slow. I'll hold this. hallway. Wait. Or if you want to hold. the hallway. I'll kick stuff around over. here.

>> Let's play. Okay.

Thomas, please. If you're in here, sound. off. >> One 94. We haven't made it very far in. here. Is there any canines close?

>> That's just a garage. >> Yeah, [Applause]. damn place. >> I haven't ran into one this way yet. So. That must not be canine.

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the QR code on your screen. But Devon didn't go quietly. He even. threatened the officers trying to cuff. him. >> Stop. Let me get my order. >> We'll deal with that later. >> Okay. >> 911. If you want to get a wagon over. here, >> keep. >> bro. I'm cool. Let me go, bro. You're.

the one who did it. >> Let me go, bro. I think it's like. cotrol. It's right around the corner. They found it. They found it. >> Bro, let me go, bro. >> You want to slam your head and be. stupid? >> That's what happens. >> We'll just help you make a good.

>> Okay, thank you. Racist. >> Racist. >> Yeah, >> I'm racist. >> That's what he's being. >> for sure. Right. >> In my legs though. >> No. You want to do stupid stuff?

You get a hobble and put him on his. side. Sorry. You get a hobble and we'll. put him on his side. >> I get on my side my damn self. >> Ain't no one listening to you right now, guy. >> Now faced with the choice, cooperate or. be strapped into a stretcher. Well, let's just say he didn't choose the. former. >> This can go two ways. You can go on a. stretcher and we can strap you down or. you can be a man and sit back here. It's.

your choice. Which one's it going to be? >> Man, I ain't even want to be on if it. needs to be. >> You going to be a man or you need to go. on stretch? Are you going to act on you? Yes or. >> no question. >> Yes or no? >> Yes or no? Tell me the stretcher out.

>> Say he's standing or no? >> No, he he won't make a decision. >> He's talking to me. >> Answer the question. >> Yes. >> We're going to put you on a stretch. >> Stand him up. >> Yeah. >> Ready? >> On your feet. >> Use your feet. >> Start walking. >> Put me on a stretch. >> Start walking. Jesus. >> Stand up. >> Stand up. >> Y'all going to work for it. I don't want. to be on the stretcher. I want to make. it easy for y'all. >> Oh, so we're going to work. We'll strap. you to the stretcher then. I don't give.

a. >> What's your name? >> 2893 Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. >> I. side. me like this. That was sweet.

>> Wheels on that side. >> On my head. >> Two and two. >> Ready. >> Two and two. >> On that side. >> Grab those caught. There you go. >> Let them go first and we'll follow. behind my face. I got you.

>> Wheel's down. It rolls. back. >> Kick that air on. >> Yes. Good. >> I can ride. >> All right. Yeah. >> Weston. >> Devin was later booked into the Franklin. County Jail. Now, as it would turn out, this wasn't the only time Devon had. gotten violent with Brooke. Like we. mentioned, he had a well doumented. history of violence against her. That. violent history included choking, beatings, threats to kill her, and even. holding a knife to her throat. And.

despite all of that, he remained free. until she was murdered. Now, according. to reports reviewed by the Columbus. Dispatch, one of the most serious. earlier attacks happened in December of. 2023. On December 28th, Devon smashed. the windshield of Brook's car. He forced. her to strip naked before dragging her. by the hair and holding a knife to her. throat, saying, "I'll kill you." When. officers caught up with him, Blair. punched and bit one of the officers in. the head during the arrest. Devon was. charged with felonious assault, strangulation, assault on a police. officer, and felony domestic violence,

and he pleaded guilty to two of those. charges on May 16th of 2024. But. somehow, even after pleading guilty, he. was actually allowed to walk free. The. Columbus Dispatch reports that Judge. Michael Hullbrook released Devon on a. $10,000 recgnissance bond, meaning he. didn't have to pay anything upfront to. remain out of jail ahead of sentencing. Judge Hullbrook ordered him to wear an. electronic ankle monitor and stay away. from Brooke. The judge even expressed. hope at the time that Devon would comply. with his release term, saying, quote, "I'm taking a chance. Don't disappoint.

me." That chance didn't last long. Just. days later on May 31st, Devon's bond was. revoked for violating his release. conditions and failing to participate in. a pre-sentencing investigation. A. warrant was filed that same day in. response to the violation, but it would. never be served. Devon attacked Brooke. two more times. On June 12th, just 4. days before her murder, Brooke told. police that Devon attacked her during an. argument in her car. She said he punched. her in the face and warned her not to. take the freeway exit toward her parents.

house. When she did anyway, he punched. her in the eye and hit her. several. times in the head. He then picked up a. can of car cleaner and threatened to. bash her head in. Now, 4 days later, police would receive that 911 text, reporting that something terrible. happened to Brooke. During Devon's. arraignment on June 18th of 2024, he. interrupted the court with expletives. demanding bond. Let's take a listen to. that. >> Shut the up and give me a bond. Say, "Okay, granted, get get me the out of. here to my.

>> um and died as a result of her injuries. Her feet is all. >> smack you when I get out of here. >> Please be quiet. >> Shut the up. Should have never brought. me down here with you. I ain't want to. come. You You forced me down here and. not give a. dog. Shut up. >> Council on behalf clients. and no weapons in the city. [Music]. Now, Judge Jim Ogrady initially set bond.

at $11 million, but it was later. revoked, and Devon Blair was ordered to. remain in jail until trial. Now, the. case came to a head on June 21st of 2025. when he entered a guilty plea to two. counts of involuntary manslaughter, two. counts of felonious assault, and one. count of strangulation. He was sentenced. to 46 to 51 and a half years in prison, plus another two years for the prior. assault. As a part of his plea deal, according to the Columbus Dispatch, Blair, agreed to make no applications. for early release. At the sentencing. hearing, Brook's mother, Billy Deini, addressed the court in an emotional.

victim impact statement. She read from a. series of text messages her daughter had. sent to her in the last weeks leading up. to her murder, like words of, "I love. you," and plans to get milkshakes, but. others that described the physical abuse. she endured, a previous miscarriage, and. her growing fear that Devon would kill. her if she reported him to police. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Billy told the court, quote, "She only. wanted him to love her in the way that. she loved him. He took her life. He made. a choice to take her life. He could have. walked away, but he didn't. He chose to.

kill her." Billy recounted a moment when. her daughter had tried to protect. herself, filing a police report and. requesting a protective order, but. feared it wouldn't be enough. Let's take. a listen. >> She filed a police report and a. protection order. She said, "Mom, once he finds out what I. did, he's going to kill me. And then he did. He selfishly took her and my grandson. away from me. >> Billy also condemned the legal system.

despite repeated warnings that allow. Devon to remain free, saying the system. failed her. No matter how many years he. spends in prison, it will never be. enough. It won't bring her back. When. given the opportunity to speak, Devon. cried as he addressed the courtroom, referring to Brooke as quote, "my friend. and the love of my life." He went on to. say, "I think about that night every day. and every night. I wish I could go back. in time and just walk away." Before the. Deainy family, no apology could erase. the pain of what was lost or the many. missed opportunities to prevent it. So,

I have a great guest with me to break. this all down, and that's criminal. defense attorney Joe Tambberino. Joe, always great to see you, and thanks so. much for joining me today. I got to ask. you, how common is it for someone with a. very violent history and a guilty plea. at that to be released on their own. recgnissance bond or released on a. recgnissance bond while awaiting. sentencing? How rare do you see that or. how often do you see that? >> Well, thanks for having me on, Elizabeth. It is rare. Usually when you. have someone with such an extensive.

history of domestic violence and they. plead guilty to a domestic violence. felony where they used a weapon because. remember in the December 2023 case he. supposedly and plead guilty to a. domestic violence case where it was. alleged that he used a knife. That's a. dangerous weapon. And you have that and. you plead guilty. Usually they're taken. into custody. But again that's up to the. judge. Some judges will some won't. And in your view kind of what went wrong. to allow Deon Blair to remain free.

despite having an active warrant out. against him? >> Well, what went wrong is that we have to. make sure in the system that all judges. are educated on domestic violence. And. you know, that's going to depend upon. how do you become a judge in one. jurisdiction or another. Like here in. Minnesota, judges are first appointed by. the governor and then after that they. run for reelection. In many states, there's simply just an election for it. But very few states, if any, have.

qualifications as to what you need to do. in your career before you're even. eligible to become a judge. And then. obviously once you become a judge, what. are the, you know, standards or what are. the educational requirements that you. would have to go through as you proceed. in your judicial career. So, I think a. lot of this would be alleviated if we. had judges who understood the nature of. domestic violence, especially when we're. dealing with defendants with an. extensive history and when the person.

allegedly or admits to using a dangerous. weapon. In those cases, the court has to. seriously consider putting them in. custody after they've pled guilty to. their sentencing. I'm curious to know, Joe, you know, one. of the judges in this in this case said. that he was going to take a chance on. Devon Blair. And by taking a chance, we. all kind of know what the outcome ended. up being, but in your opinion, do you. think that, you know, with some judges, I can understand both ways of why judges.

feel like they should take chances on. defendants. They believe that there's. possibly some good left in them, but in. this case, it seemed like kind of the. bad outweighed the good for sure. But in. terms of just Judge Hullbrook saying. that he was going to take a chance on. Deon Blair and then this happened. What. are your thoughts on just the judge's. discretion there? >> Well, the judge does have discretion and. I'm sure it's something that the judge. never wanted to happen. I mean, of. course, we're all human beings. We never. want when we take a chance on someone. for them to do something like murder.

another person. Absolutely not. However, there are good chances and bad chances. Here are good chances. Good chances are. when a defendant comes to the court and. shows that he's done extensive. treatment. Maybe he's gone through an. impatient alcohol program or intensive. outpatient alcohol program. Maybe he's. gone through a threemonth course on. anger control. Maybe he's gone through a. twomonth course on domestic abuse.

issues. If if a defendant comes to the. court doing all of that, showing that. he's gotten to the roots of why he's an. angry person, of why he attacks women, and he really has successfully completed. those programs. Yes, that's a good. chance as opposed to a situation where, you know, you just have a defendant who. says, "Look, I'm going to do better. I'm. doing better now. I've been great since. I've been out on bond." But has there. been any programming? Has he. successfully completed anything? So, you.

know, you have to weigh the chances. When a defendant has completed all that. types of programming, that's a good. chance. When they haven't, you got to. question it. >> And this case is especially. heartbreaking given that the victim was. pregnant with the defendant's child. And. then you have this other aspect of, you. know, um her wanting to report this. information to law enforcement. She did. everything right. She even she told her. closest family. She told um law. enforcement about what was going on with. her. And then obviously this happens. And I think always a question when we. see these very um big domestic violence.

cases that were to happen that end up. like this where a victim ends up being. murdered. I think a lot of people go. back to okay well why did she stay with. him? Why did she continue being with. him? And then we kind of know from her. mom a little bit from the reports out. there that were saying that her mom. just, you know, um was saying that her. daughter just wanted him his love to. pretty much just go back to how it was. But in terms of why defense attorneys. may get that question of why didn't the. victim leave, why didn't she continue to.

stay? Why would she have a child with. him? What kind of answers do you have to. that? Because I feel like it's a. double-edged sword where you say, "Okay, leave." And then something bad were to. happen or stay and something bad were to. happen. It really just feels like. there's no good outcome out of these. horrible, horrible cases. Well, you just. hit it on the head with no good outcome. because in many situations, you will. have victims who simply want the. perpetrator back in their lives. Regardless of the fact that they have. abused them, regardless of the fact that. they are dangerous people, violent.

people, they still want them back in. their lives. And that's something that, you know, we're never going to cure. We. just can't cure that because as adults, we can all make decisions as long as. we're not under some mental defect or. under the influence of a mindaltering. substance. We are allowed as human. beings and citizens in this society to. say, "Look, I'm making my own decision. I want him back in my life." However, there are some guard rails like in this. case, we had the victim who was calling.

the police saying that there was, you. know, no contact orders basically being. broken. In that kind of a situation, a. warrant should have went out. Not only. that, it should have been executed and. then once the defendant was arrested on. violating his conditions of release, he. could have been held. His prior bond. could have been revoked. So, there are. some guard rails to the system. And what. else could have been done in this type. of case that could have possibly have. prevented this from even happening?

>> Well, the only thing that could have. prevented it if if he was remained in. custody. I mean, obviously that's clear. But other things that could help is when. you have a defendant who has a pretty. violent history and the last time he. abused this victim, he did something. very degrading. Pulled her around in. public by her hair, made her strip naked. in public. That's very degrading. conduct. That should send off red light. signals everywhere to a judge. So, what. you could also do as part of a condition. of police is put a GPS monitor on them.

You know, where you have a monitor that. you can see if this defendant is even. getting close to the victim's home or. the victim's place of business or the. victim's school. Now, of course, you. will have defendants who cut off the. monitor. Okay? if that happens, immediate warrant and immediate arrest, but you can try to prevent that by. having these GPS systems and they're. available everywhere. >> And is there any type of legal way to.

hold possibly the court accountable when. a released offender goes on to commit a. very violent act such a such as a murder. like this? >> No, we have what's called discretion in. our system. For example, a prosecutor. doesn't have to charge every case. We. elect our prosecutors and then they hire. prosecutors who go to court every day. They're the assistants and we give them. and rightfully so the discretion to. charge cases and not to charge cases. Why do we do that? Because not every.

case should be charged. People sometimes. make accusation of crimes against other. people that sometimes are not true at. all or even if there is some basis in. truth, it doesn't rise to the level of. probable cause or certainly not. something that you could prove beyond a. reasonable doubt. So discretion is built. into our system and because of that. almost all public officials like we have. prosecutors, judges are going to have. immunity for their discretionary.

judgment calls. So, and that is good to. have in the system except obviously in. some cases the calls aren't made. correctly. >> And what's your thoughts on Devon. Blair's sentence? I mean, he was given a. plea deal or he pleaded guilty and he. wasn't given life in prison given this. very heinous and violent and violent act. plus you you know obviously the murder. too. But in terms of your opinion on the. sentence, do you think that was just? Do. you think that was fair even though he. did plead guilty?

Uh, yes, a 50-year sentence. And I. believe what also was part of this is. that he couldn't ask for early release. So, let's assume that he's going to. serve 50 years. I believe he's 24 years. old now. So, that means he's going to be. 74 years old. By the time he's eligible. for release, I mean, quite frankly, the. odds the odds are uh when you're in. prison for 50 years, you're not going to. make it to 74 years old. So, basically, this is like a life sentence. And what. are your thoughts on just the um kind of. sentence that he had had when he was.

kind of talk telling the court pretty. much his side of things where he felt. bad pretty much and that he wishes he. could go back. I mean obviously it's too. little too late. I mean his. ex-girlfriend is dead and their child is. dead too. But in terms of him seeming. remorseful during his sentencing, do you. buy it? >> I don't personally buy that. But it is. the right of every defendant. And it's a. right of allocution, which means that a. defendant can tell a judge what their. position in the case is, how they feel,

how this has affected them, how they. have changed, their remorse, their. contrition, what they want to say to the. victim or the victim's family. So that. is all of our right to do that. And uh. though you know in many cases it is too. little too late and in this specific. case no personally I don't buy it but it. is his right to do that. All right. Well, Joe Tambourino, I appreciate your. time and your insight into this case. Before we sign you off, is there. anything else you would like to add. about it?

>> No. And thank you for having me on. >> Always. Thank you so much, Joe. Tambourino, criminal defense attorney. We appreciate having you on Sidebar. today. >> Thank you. >> Well, that does it for this episode. Be. sure to subscribe to us anywhere you. listen to your podcast, whether it's. YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. I'm. Elizabeth Milner in for Jesse Weber, and. this has been Sidebar, presented by Law. and Crime. Thanks for watching everyone. [Music].