Skip to content

Condition: Post with Page_List

Listen
Search
Please enter at least 3 characters.

Latest Stories

Man sentenced for killing owner of truck he stole, setting apartments on fire

Javen Jackson is sentenced to life in prison for the crimes in Lancaster County

Javen Jackson.
Javen Jackson.
Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Lancaster County man has been sentenced to life plus 4 to 10 years in prison for setting an apartment complex on fire, stealing a truck, and killing the owner with it.

Javen Jackson, 24, was sentenced after a jury in October found him guilty of second-degree murder, arson and robbery of a motor vehicle.


The Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said that during the late night of Nov. 9 and early morning of Nov. 10, 2019, Jackson set fire to an apartment complex on West Main Street in New Holland. Prosecutors said he had been living in the utility room of an apartment there.

10 residents of the building escaped the fire, including children, authorities said.

One day later, Jackson stole a truck owned by Thomas Blackwell, 59, on Center Avenue in Terre Hill, prosecutors say.

When Blackwell tried to grab onto the side of the vehicle to stop the theft, Jackson accelerated, then stopped the vehicle to shake Blackwell off and failed to offer aid to him after he was injured, according to prosecutors.

Blackwell died three days later from a fractured skull.

Prosecutors also accused Jackson of stealing clothes from a Walmart in Berks County to change his appearance.

Javen Jackson is sentenced to life in prison for the crimes in Lancaster County