Man and his stepfather convicted in 2020 murder sentenced to prison

SAN ANTONIO – A man and his stepfather who were convicted this week of murdering a 24-year-old man in December of 2020 were sentenced to prison on Tuesday.

Lane Wootan received a sentence of 22 years in prison, and Williams Blankenship was sentenced to 10 years for the murder of Josh Fowler. Both men will be eligible for parole after serving half of their sentences.

A jury took about three and a half hours on Monday to find Wootan and Blankenship guilty of fatally shooting Fowler.

According to testimony during the trial, Fowler and a friend had some sort of altercation with Wootan earlier in the day. Wootan then returned to confront Fowler with his mother, Jennifer Blankenship, and stepfather, Williams Blankenship.

Wootan and Fowler apparently got into a fight, and at some point, Fowler was shot and later died from his injuries.

While the two separate defense teams for the codefendants tried to paint this as self-defense and also claimed the main witness was not credible, it wasn’t enough to sway the jury.

Wootan’s mother, who is Blankenship’s wife — Jennifer Blankenship — was also arrested for the crime. She chose to have her case tried separately.

Related:

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• Medical examiner identifies man shot during visit to SE Bexar County home
• Man shot, killed in altercation at Southeast Bexar County home, BCSO says