It’s been three weeks since Jude Blackwell asked their partner, Jesse Woods, who went by Grim, to walk down to the corner store at Grand and Alberta to pick up some ice. Blackwell said the kind and affable Grim didn’t drive, and walked everywhere, often stopping to visit people along the way. On the night of April 13, someone he encountered shot and killed the 37-year-old.
KMOV reported on the story, and a gofundme was set up.
Woods and Blackwell. Courtesy of Jude Blackwell.
Blackwell and Woods, who shared a home on Louisiana near Marquette Park, had been together for nearly seven years, and shared a menagerie of beloved pets. “I’m studying to be a veterinarian and we both loved animals so much,” Blackwell says. “We have two dogs, three cats, two parakeets, one sulcata tortoise— that tortoise was his tortoise, and one of his absolute most beloved things in life. And I’m also a snake keeper with 6 snakes. We always called our house a zoo.”
Donations to help with expenses would be appreciated, as well as any information on who committed this heinous act.
“His family and I, as well as so many friends who loved him dearly, are shattered without him and desperately searching for answers as to why this happened to such a wonderful soul,” Blackwell says. “We are asking the community to please, please come forward if you have any information could help bring us answers, and we are planning to offer a cash reward to any tips that help lead to an arrest.”
SLMPD is asking for anyone with information about the incident to contact CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS.
A public memorial is being planned for June.
