{"id":20874,"date":"2026-07-29T11:06:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T06:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=20874"},"modified":"2026-07-29T11:06:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T06:06:42","slug":"las-vegas-woman-allysandra-blea-sentenced-for-fatally-shooting-friend-during-late-night-photo-shoot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=20874","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas woman, Allysandra Blea, sentenced for fatally shooting friend during late-night photo shoot"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2026%2F07%2Flas-vegas-woman-allysandra-blea-135829823.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The gun-obsessed Vegas woman who <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/09\/04\/us-news\/las-vegas-woman-allysandra-blea-fatally-shoots-boyfriend-while-modeling-with-gun-during-photoshoot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">expressed a desire to \u201cshoot people with real guns and get away with it\u201d<\/a> has been sentenced to five years to life for killing her friend during an impromptu photo shoot.<\/p>\n<p>Allysandra Blea, 21, sobbed as she was sentenced Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to first-degree kidnapping and involuntary manslaughter for the death of 23-year-old Mark Gaughan, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courttv.com\/news\/woman-obsessed-with-wanting-to-shoot-someone-and-get-away-with-it-is-headed-to-prison-for-killing-friend-during-gun-loving-photo-shoot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-nyp-affiliate=\"true\">Court TV reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gaughan was killed after he was shot once in the neck by Blea near his home roughly four miles northwest of the Las Vegas Strip just before 5 a.m. on Aug. 23, 2025.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Allysandra Blea, 21, pleaded guilty to first-degree kidnapping and involuntary manslaughter in June for the death of 23-year-old Mark Gaughan. <span class=\"credit\">Fox 5 Vegas<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The pair had been drinking vodka and smoking marijuana for hours at the home of a mutual friend, Gavin Fitzpatrick, and his girlfriend, Maverick Crafts, the evening leading up to the killing, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to sentencing, Clark testified that Gaughan was in \u201clove\u201d with Blea \u2014 but Blea had confessed she didn\u2019t actually consider him her boyfriend and didn\u2019t even like him, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reviewjournal.com\/crime\/courts\/accused-shooter-was-disgusted-with-victim-witness-to-slaying-tells-grand-jury-3528797\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to the Las Vegas Review Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cShe was disgusted to hear that he would call her his girlfriend,\u201d Clark said.<\/p>\n<p>Blea posed for photos with Gaughan\u2019s gun on the hood of a truck in the driveway when the gun went off and fatally struck him, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lvmpd.com\/Home\/Components\/News\/News\/2204\/263\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">police said<\/a>. Blea was arrested three days later on charges of \u201cOpen Murder with a Deadly Weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Police found two Polaroid photos at the scene \u2014 one apparently showing Blea holding a firearm, another showing a girl holding a knife.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Mark Gaughan with his mother, Caroline Gaughan. <span class=\"credit\">Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Blea, who was 20 at the time, told investigators the shooting was accidental and that she believed the gun wasn\u2019t loaded during the early morning photo shoot.<\/p>\n<p>However, a search of Blea\u2019s phone revealed what investigators described as a \u201cfascination with firearms,\u201d including numerous messages referencing her enthusiasm for building an arsenal and images of her posing with various weapons.<\/p>\n<p>Police also found one message in which Blea allegedly said, \u201cI wish I could shoot people with real guns and get away with it,\u201d and spoke about gunning down prostitutes and the homeless, according to Court TV.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Blea was posing for photos with Gaughan\u2019s gun on the hood of a truck in the driveway when the gun went off and fatally struck him. <span class=\"credit\">Fox 5 Vegas<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Another message Blea sent to someone on social media said, \u201cI would kill prostitutes and bury them in the New Mexico desert.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After making the disturbing discovery, detectives decided to bring Blea in for questioning, homicide detective Kasey Kirkegard told a grand jury during her trial, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the middle of the interview, when we confronted her about all these statements that were made through social media, she stated they were a joke and that she has a somewhat intimate knowledge to prostitutes being buried in the New Mexico desert,\u201d Kirkegard said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd she stated that her grandfather was actually a serial killer that was previously convicted in New Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Blea was sentenced to five years to life for killing her friend during an impromptu photo shoot. <span class=\"credit\">Fox 5 Vegas<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Blea\u2019s grandfather, Joseph Blea, is a person of interest in the disappearance of 10 to 12 prostitutes in New Mexico and has a prior conviction for sexual assault against several of the women. <\/p>\n<p>He is currently serving a 36-year prison sentence, imposed in 2015, for the 1988 rape of a 13-year-old girl,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.koat.com\/article\/man-sentenced-to-36-years-in-kidnapping-sexual-assault-of-13-year-old\/5064535\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> KOAT reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Following her sentencing on Tuesday, Blea will serve a minimum of five years and a maximum of life in the Nevada Department of Corrections.<\/p>\n<p>She was also ordered to pay restitution for Gaughan\u2019s funeral expenses totaling $16,085.81 and to his mother, Caroline Gaughan.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Caroline Gaughan reads a victim impact statement to the court prior to Blea\u2019s sentencing. <span class=\"credit\">Fox 5 Vegas<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Caroline Gaughan, who delivered an impact statement during the sentencing, expressed fury at the light sentence handed down to her son\u2019s killer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe is a danger to society,\u201d she said following the verdict, according to the outlet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe will continue to live her life after sentencing, but me, I will live with a life sentence of grief, of trauma, of depression, stress, anxiety, brokenness, a nightmare I can\u2019t escape until the day I die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Judge Jacqueline Bluth acknowledged the victim\u2019s mother\u2019s disappointment but said she would endorse the plea agreement since there was \u201ctoo much to risk on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was a case that should not have gone to trial,\u201d Bluth said. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The gun-obsessed Vegas woman who expressed a desire to \u201cshoot people with real guns and get away with it\u201d has been sentenced to five years to life for killing her friend during an impromptu photo shoot. Allysandra Blea, 21, sobbed as she was sentenced Tuesday after she pleaded guilty to first-degree kidnapping and involuntary manslaughter&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/07\/las-vegas-woman-allysandra-blea-135829823.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}