VENANGO CO., Pa. (EYT) — A Venango County man is facing a host of criminal charges, including homicide and aggravated assault, following his arrest on suspicion he murdered the two-year-old son of his girlfriend.
Court Records show that on December 21, the Oil City Police Department filed criminal charges against 24-year-old Trevaughn Lee Glenn Stribling-Jackson, of Oil City, in Magisterial District Judge Andrew F. Fish’s office.
According to a criminal complaint, on Wednesday, December 20, a known female traveled to the Oil City Police Department regarding a minor child who was missing. The child was identified as “KM” and described as a two-year-old who lives at a residence in the 600 block of North Street in the city of Oil City with his mother, sibling, and his mother’s boyfriend, Trevaughn Stribling-Jackson.
According to the report made by the child’s mother, she last saw KM before leaving for work on December 18 at about 2:30 p.m. Upon returning home from work shortly before 11:30 p.m., she saw the child was missing. KM had been left in the care of Stribling-Jackson, the complaint states.
Upon asking Stribling-Jackson about the whereabouts of the child, she was reportedly told the child was given to his cousin in the Erie area. He would not provide a name or contact information for the cousin who allegedly had custody of the child, the complaint indicates.
During interviews with the victim’s mother, she told police she was concerned about the whereabouts of the child. She attempted multiple times to question Stribling-Jackson about the child’s location or getting in contact with him. Further, she told officers she found Stribling-Jackson’s behavior suspicious when she returned from work the night of the 18th because he was doing laundry which he never did, according to the complaint.
The victim’s mother told police she noted that a tan “Intex” air mattress bag was missing when she returned home from work and that there was blood on the box-spring under the air mattress, the complaint states.
Officers were provided information by the victim’s mother that Stribling-Jackson would strike the child. Recently, she observed bruising around his ribcage area. She was told the minor child fell down the stairs while in the care of Stribling-Jackson, the complaint notes.
On December 20th, Oil City Police Department Patrolman Tim Karns applied for a warrant to search the North Street residence. The search warrant was approved, the complaint states.
During the execution of the warrant, officers entered the basement of the residence and located the child inside a canvas-type “Intex” bag beneath a “makeshift” table, secreted from view. EMS personnel were summoned but could not provide life-saving measures; the minor child was found deceased, according to the complaint.
Based on their findings, OCPD Lieutenant Cory Ruditis applied for a second search warrant to collect evidence relating to the death of the child. Personnel from the Forensic Services Unit of the Pennsylvania State Police responded to the scene for the execution of the search warrant and the documentation and seizure of evidence, the complaint notes.
While on the scene, officers observed injuries on the victim’s head and neck area, as well as a suspected burn on the inner groin, the complaint states.
Lieutenant Ruditis and PSP Trooper Harriger interviewed Stribling-Jackson.
During the interview, Stribling-Jackson denied knowing the whereabouts of the child. He stated he didn’t have any information about the child’s death. He also denied sending the child to Erie or telling anyone he did so. Stribling-Jackson said, however, that he has family in the Erie area, according to the complaint.
Lieutenant Ruditis noted in the complaint that officers confirmed during their investigation that Stribling-Jackson lived in the basement of the North Street home with the victim, the victim’s mother, and her other minor child.
According to court records, Stribling-Jackson was arraigned at 4:15 a.m. on December 21, on the following charges in front of Judge Fish:
- Criminal Homicide, H1
- Aggravated Assault – Victim Less Than 13 and Defendant 10 or Older, Felony 1
- Concealment of Whereabouts of Child, Felony 3
- Abuse of Corpse, Misdemeanor 2
A preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday, January 3, at 8:30 a.m. with Judge Fish presiding.
Stribling-Jackson is lodged in the Venango County Prison with bail denied. The Bail Action Reason is listed as “Flight risk. Will not comply with bail conditions, proof evident.”
