A 40-year-old man who was taken in by distant relatives was convicted of first-degree murder Tuesday, for the stabbing death of his cousin in December 2021 in Bristol Township.
David Joseph Jenner was also found guilty of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person and possession of an instrument of crime by Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley during a two-day waiver trial. Sentencing was deferred to a later date.
Bucks County Deputy District Attorneys Marc J. Furber and Sarah K. Heimbach presented hundreds of exhibits during the trial, including the murder weapon, crime scene photos, and body cam footage from Bristol Township officers responding to the Dec. 19, 2021, stabbing at 605 Veterans Highway. The footage showed police and emergency responders attempting to save the life of 43-year-old Charlie R. Thomas Jr., who was stabbed eight times during the attack.
Months earlier, Thomas and his mother allowed Jenner, a distant relative, to stay in their home because he had nowhere else to go. “What happened after four to five months of this decision: Charlie Thomas is dead,” Furber said in his closing arguments. The victim's mother was also stabbed, in the left arm, trying to shield her son from Jenner’s brutal attack.
In securing the first-degree murder conviction, prosecutors successfully argued that the stabbing was not a case self-defense or a suicide frame job, as the defendant had claimed.
Bristol Township police and paramedics were dispatched at 11:01 p.m. Dec. 19, 2021, to the Veterans Highway home for a reported stabbing. The caller, a resident at the home, told dispatchers Jenner stabbed Thomas, and then walked to the front of the residence holding a knife. A second caller told of hearing an argument just before the stabbing.
When Bristol Township police arrived minutes later, they encountered Jenner on the front porch of the home. Also on the porch, police located a large kitchen knife with a bloody 8-inch blade. Jenner was handcuffed, and police noticed he had blood on his hands.
Thomas was found on the floor inside the home, bleeding heavily. Other residents were attempting to help him by applying pressure to “a gaping wound” on the left side of his chest. Bristol Township police officers and the Bucks County Rescue Squad continued life saving measures, but Thomas was pronounced dead at the hospital a short time later.
Forensic pathologist Zhongxue Hua testified that Thomas was stabbed eight times. The fatal wound was five inches deep to the left side of his chest, which punctured his lung and caused massive bleeding. Thomas also suffered another stab wound to the left side of his chest, one to his left arm, three to his lower back and one on his buttocks, Hua testified.
During the trial, prosecutors presented testimony from other residents in the home and played cellphone video that showed the defendant swinging a knife and yelling at the residents who were attempting to calm him down. Shortly after the video was shot, Jenner stabbed Thomas.
“It has been said that no parent should have to bury a child,” Deputy District Attorney Marc Furber said. “In this case, the mother of the victim had to watch her son die as she used her body as a shield to fend off the defendant’s repeated attacks.” “While we can’t change what happened to the victim, we are grateful that the victim’s mother was able to see her son’s killer brought to justice in a court of law. We look forward to the defendant’s formal sentencing when the public can be assured that the defendant will never again pose a threat to our community.”
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