A Lancaster County man was convicted of second-degree murder, arson endangering other persons, and robbery of motor vehicle after a three-day trial on October 14 in Lancaster County Court.

Javen T. Jackson, 24, was found guilty of setting a fire to a New Holland apartment complex before attempting to steal a man’s vehicle in Terre Hill and ultimately causing that man’s death by accelerating and stopping the vehicle while the man hung from the side of the car.

Jackson was charged by Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Kory Wardrop on December 3, 2019. The arson took place on the late night and early morning of November 9 and 10, 2019; the homicide and robbery occurred on November 11, 2019.

The 59-year-old victim died three days later with an autopsy revealing the cause to be multiple traumatic injuries and manner to be homicide. Evidence presented during trial showed the fatal injury to be a fractured skull.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher Miller prosecuted the case and presented testimony and evidence that Jackson was aiming to get out of the area after committing the arson. Jackson tried to get a truck from the victim, who had been kind to Jackson in the past, buying him socks and a blanket to keep warm.

“I don’t know how much clearer [the victim] could’ve been that the defendant was not getting out of town with his truck,” Miller said during his closing argument. “A few minutes later, [the victim] lay dead due to the direct causation of Javen Jackson’s actions, the defendant sitting in the courtroom today.”

Prior to the crimes, Jackson had been living at multiple locations in Lancaster County including inside a utility closet in an apartment complex in the 400 block of West Main Street in New Holland.

According to testimony, Jackson started the fire with a lighter provided to him by a relative. Jackson lit a piece of clothing on fire with the provided lighter and stuck it underneath electrical wires that were manipulated.

The fire endangered and displaced 10 other people from the home, some of whom testified at trial about grabbing their children before fleeing from the rising smoke and flames.

Jackson then went to steal the victim’s pickup truck from a location on Center Avenue in Terre Hill. The victim attempted to stop the robbery and held onto the side of the vehicle as Jackson accelerated and stopped multiple times before a witness forced him out of the driver’s seat and placed it in park.

The victim eventually collapsed to the ground due to the encounter.

Multiple witnesses from the incident testified at trial.

The jury returned its verdict in approximately 50 minutes.

Lancaster County Judge Dennis Reinaker presided over the trial and will order sentence at a later date.

The mandatory sentence for second-degree murder is life imprisonment.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sean McBryan, semcbryan@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @SeanMcBryanLanc.