VENANGO CO., Pa. (EYT) – An Oil City couple charged in connection with the December 2023 murder of two-year-old Keaton Morrison were held for court following a four-and-a-half hour preliminary hearing on Monday afternoon in Venango County Central Court.
(Photo above: Trevaughn “TK” Stribling-Jackson, left, and Caleigh Gladfelter, right, are escorted from the Venango County Prison to the courthouse on Monday afternoon. Photos by Dave Cyphert of ProPoint Media Photography)
Keaton Morrison was found deceased on December 20, 2023, by Oil City Police Officers in the basement of the North Street home in Oil City where Stribling-Jackson and Gladfelter were living with Gladfelter’s two children, two-year-old Keaton and his three-year-old brother. The child had been missing since the evening of December 18, 2023.
Venango County District Attorney Shawn White told the court at the beginning of the hearing that his office filed additional charges against 24-year-old Trevaughn Lee Glenn Stribling-Jackson and 22-year-old Caleigh Renae Gladfelter earlier that day. This was news to Stribling-Jackson’s attorney, Chief Public Defender Jeffrey Misko.
Two-year-old Keaton Morrison in a Christmas photo posted to social media by his family.
District Attorney White added that under a limited immunity agreement, Gladfelter would testify for the prosecution during the hearing.
Misko requested a fifteen-minute recess from Judge Andrew Fish after learning of the additional charges and immunity deal.
According to court records, Stribling-Jackson is now facing the following charges:
- Criminal Homicide, H1
- Aggravated Assault – Victim Less Than 13 and Defendant 18 or Older, Felony 1
- Concealment of Whereabouts of Child, Felony 3
- Flight to Avoid Apprehension/Trial/Punishment, Felony 3
- Abuse of Corpse, Misdemeanor 2
- Tampering with/Fabricating Physical Evidence, Misdemeanor 2
- False Identification to Law Enforcement Officer, Misdemeanor 3
Court records show that Gladfelter faces the following charges:
- Endangering Welfare of Children – Parent/Guardian/Other Commits Offense, Felony 1
- Involuntary Manslaughter, Felony 2
- Concealment of Whereabouts of Child, Felony 3
- Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Misdemeanor 2
Gladfelter is represented by Oil City attorney Michael Hadley.
The Commonwealth called seven witnesses during the hearing.
The first witness was Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Harriger who testified about his interview with Gladfelter after she arrived at the Oil City Police Department on December 20th to report a missing child. He noted Gladfelter had two black eyes and bruises on her chest and ribs, which were photographed. He testified Gladfelter reported she was injured when she confronted Stribling-Jackson about the whereabouts of her son, Keaton.
Harriger further testified that he found text messages from Stribling-Jackson on Gladfelter’s phone that said, “I’m sorry I’ve been rough on the boys. I’m going to calm down,” and, “I sent Chubs with my cousin in Erie.”
“Chubs” is a nickname given to Keaton Morrison.
The state’s second witness was Oil City Police Officer Larry Drake. He testified he conducted surveillance on the North Street home in anticipation of a search warrant and followed Stribling-Jackson when he left the residence as a passenger in a car. The car was later stopped by a marked patrol vehicle. Drake witnessed Stribling-Jackson identify himself as “Ron” before he was taken into custody.
Officer Drake later returned to the residence and helped execute the search warrant, which had been issued. He testified he saw reddish specks on the concrete floor of the basement. He and another officer looked under a structure that they described as either a planter or a table and noticed a bag that didn’t fit in with its surroundings because of its relative cleanliness. He was selected to retrieve the bag, having to go behind the structure and slide in between it and a wall.
Drake said the bag opened as he grabbed it and slid it toward himself. He said that saw Keaton Morrison’s face and testified the child was cold to the touch.
The third witness for the Commonwealth was Venango County Coroner Christina Rugh. She testified she was called to the North Street residence and took custody of Keaton Morrison’s remains during the early morning hours of December 21st. She stated she scheduled an autopsy with Erie County pathologist Eric Vey on December 22nd.
Dr. Vey, testified Rugh, requested radiographs before the autopsy. Coroner Rugh took the child’s remains to UPMC Northwest on December 21st for the x-rays.
According to Coroner Rugh, who was present at Keaton Morrison’s autopsy and held back tears during her testimony, Morrison’s body showed significant bruising to his head, chest, lateral right abdomen, and legs. He suffered cigarette burns on his skin. He had several broken ribs on both sides, blood in his thoracic and abdominal cavities, significant damage to his pancreas, and an injury to his skull that caused bleeding.
Rugh testified that Morrison’s manner of death was blunt force trauma. She estimated his death occurred the day previous to his discovery based on lividity (pooling of blood post-mortem) and rigor mortis (stiffening of body muscles), which was fully fixed.
On cross-examination, Attorney Misko asked Rugh about the different options for determining the time of death. Rugh quipped that Misko brings this subject up frequently with her. Misko objected and asked the court to direct her to simply answer the question.
Rugh described that a third option for determining the time of death is via algor mortis, which is the cooling of the body post-mortem. Rugh has testified in previous trials that she prefers not to use algor mortis in her time of death determination because it causes further trauma to the body when a thermometer is inserted into the liver.
Gladfelter–who for most of the hearing sat quietly with a furrowed brow, dressed in dark blue prison overalls with her hands shackled–wept during Rugh’s testimony.
The fourth witness for the prosecution was Misty Unangst. She testified that she and her boyfriend, Devonte Riedel, rent the North Street home and sub-let the basement to Stribling-Jackson and Gladfelter.
Unangst testified that she met Gladfelter through Stribling-Jackson whom she met through Riedel. She stated the couple needed a place to stay to get a new start. When they moved in, Gladfelter’s two boys were not with them, she said. They arrived on Thanksgiving night.
Unangst described the boys as “normal toddlers, sweet and loving.” She stated that once Gladfelter found a job as a Certified Nursing Assistant at The Caring Place in Franklin, Stribling-Jackson handled the toddlers’ care while she was at work.
Unangst further testified about the basement conditions, describing that Stribling-Jackson, Gladfelter, and the two boys all slept on a queen-sized air mattress that was placed on top of box springs that were owned by Unangst and Riedel. She stated there was a small table and a television there as well.
During her testimony, Unangst stated Stribling-Jackson didn’t work. He stayed at home and watched the boys.
Unangst also testified that on December 18th she and Riedel noticed a large bruise on Keaton Morrison’s side. It went from his armpit to his hip. When asked, Stribling-Jackson stated he had fallen down the stairs, said Unangst.
When asked why she didn’t take the child to the hospital, she said, “He isn’t my child.” She added that if he were hers, she would have taken him to the emergency room.
The last time Unangst saw Keaton Morrison was the evening of December 19th, she testified. The following morning, she saw Stribling-Jackson, Gladfelter, and Gladfelter’s three-year-old son, but not Keaton. When asked where Keaton was, she was told he was in Erie with Stribling-Jackson’s cousin. That night, Unangst said she had a conversation with Stribling-Jackson and told him they needed to leave. She was uncomfortable with the bruising and the missing child. Stribling-Jackson told her they’d be out on Friday “after Caleigh gets paid,” testified Unangst.
The state’s fifth witness was Devonte Riedel, who testified that he was the driver of the car when Stribling-Jackson was arrested. He said he heard Stribling-Jackson tell authorities his name was Ron White.
Riedel’s testimony was consistent with Unangst’s. He added that the last time he saw Keaton Morrison was at approximately 10:00 p.m. on the night of December 18th. As Stribling-Jackson was taking the boys to the basement to go to sleep, he asked Riedel for some cigarettes, which he gave him.
Riedel testified that after he discovered the large bruise on Keaton Morrison’s body, he didn’t take him to the doctor because he is not the child’s guardian. “The thought didn’t cross your mind?” pressed Attorney Misko. “Of course it did,” he answered.
Both Riedel and Unangst testified that they never saw nor heard fighting or violence while Stribling-Jackson and Gladfelter lived with them.
The sixth witness of the day was Caleigh Gladfelter. She corroborated much of the previous testimony and added that the bag that Morrison was found in had gone missing the night of December 18th. The bag was being used for clothing.
Gladfelter stated that when she arrived home the night of the 18th, Stribling-Jackson was doing laundry. Specifically, he was washing a rug that was normally near their bed. Stribling-Jackson told her it needed to be washed because her dog had an accident on it.
She further testified that she saw small brown dots on the box springs. Stribling-Jackson told her they were from her dog’s accident, she said.
Gladfelter testified to a yearlong violent relationship with Stribling-Jackson. She stated multiple times that she didn’t contact police over the domestic abuse and her missing son because of her fear of Stribling-Jackson.
She testified that Stribling-Jackson was aware of the active arrest warrant against him. When District Attorney White asked her if they were hiding out, she answered in the affirmative.
Gladfelter stated she had a mobile phone, but it only worked via Wi-Fi. She communicated with Stribling-Jackson primarily using Facebook Messenger.
The last time she saw Keaton Morrison, she testified, was at about 2:30 p.m. on December 18th, as she was leaving for work. She got home after 11:30 that night, entered through the outside basement door, and saw Stribling-Jackson and her three-year-old son on the bed. She asked where Keaton was. Stribling-Jackson answered, “Didn’t you get my message?”
Gladfelter checked her messages and found one that said “Chub” was with a cousin in Erie.
She didn’t contact police out of fear, she reiterated.
Gladfelter did not go to work on December 19 and asked if Stribling-Jackson could put her in touch with her son.
“He kept telling me he’d have him call, but never did,” she testified.
The following day, Gladfelter went to work. Upon telling her boss what was happening, she and her boss contacted the Franklin Police Department and was directed to call the Oil City Police Department. Her boss then drove her to the OCPD.
Stribling-Jackson stayed quiet during Gladfelter’s testimony, as he did for most of the hearing. Dressed in bright green prison garb and sporting multiple face tattoos including two teardrops beneath his left eye, he whispered to his counsel from time to time.
Under cross-examination by Attorney Misko, Gladfelter stated she smoked marijuana but did no other drugs. Stribling-Jackson, she testified, used marijuana and Percocet, a prescription narcotic.
The seventh witness of the day was Oil City Police Lieutenant Cory Ruditis. He testified he obtained Facebook Messenger conversations between Gladfelter and Stribling-Jackson through a search warrant. He received over 1,100 pages from Facebook.
Under questioning by First Assistant District Attorney Kyle Peasley, Ruditis read aloud from several pages of conversations, including the messages that stated that Stribling-Jackson would “calm down” against the boys and that Keaton Morrison was with a cousin in Erie.
Ruditis testified that Stribling-Jackson denied having said that the child was in Erie with a cousin.
Following Lieutenant Ruditis, Gladfelter was briefly called back to the stand by Attorney Misko to read some of the Facebook messages.
Following testimony, Misko argued that there was no physical evidence that showed his client, Stribling-Jackson, killed Keaton Morrison or concealed his body. Further, he argued, there was no direct evidence of tampering with physical evidence. He asked that the charges be dropped.
District Attorney White argued he may use circumstantial evidence to prove the charges. He stated that Stribling-Jackson and Keaton Morrison were alone together for an hour on the night of December 18. He stated that all the witnesses pointed the finger at Stribling-Jackson. He reminded Judge Fish that the defendant denied saying that Keaton Morrison was in Erie with a cousin and that the victim had injuries that others had seen.
“They weren’t living in this basement,” added White. “They were hiding out.”
After hearing arguments from both sides, Judge Fish ruled all charges be carried over for court.
Both defendants remain lodged in the Venango County Prison with bail denied.
