WNC man in 2023 Blue Ridge Parkway 'Snapchat tracker' assault convicted, sentenced

ASHEVILLE – A man convicted for possession of a firearm during an assault on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 2023 has been sentenced, according to a June 13 statement from Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, joined by Debra A. Flowers, parkway acting chief ranger.

Evan William Blankenship, 23, of Whittier, was sentenced to 120 months, or 10 years, in prison followed by three years of supervised release after he pleaded guilty to possession and discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

According to court documents and court proceedings, in the early morning hours of Sept. 28,2023, two victims, known as L.P and L.M., were sitting in a parked vehicle at Waterrock Knob Overlook at Milepost 455, about 65 miles southwest of Asheville in Haywood and Jackson counties.

According to previous Citizen Times reporting , Blankenship had tracked L.P.'s through Snapchat's location-sharing feature, drove his vehicle to where the victims were on the parkway and pointed a semi-automatic pistol at them. He tried to pull L.P. out of the vehicle by the hair and arm, threatened to harm both victims, and struck L.P. in the face, causing temporary hearing loss.

Blankenship also fired his firearm into the air before pointing it again at the victims. L.M. eventually convinced Blankenship to let them go, and the victims reported the incident to law enforcement.

Blankenship was arrested Oct. 11, 2023, and has remained in federal custody since. He will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility, according the U.S. Attorney's statement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alex M. Scott, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Asheville, prosecuted thecase.

This story will be updated.

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This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: WNC man in 2023 Blue Ridge Parkway 'Snapchat tracker' assault convicted, sentenced