Bleything pleads guilty to murder, YSPD chief responds
- Published: November 30, 2024
On Monday, Nov. 18, Jackson Isaiah Bleything, 22, pleaded guilty to the March 14 murder of Yellow Springs resident Connie Vang.
Presiding from Greene County Common Pleas Court, Judge Michael Buckwalter sentenced Bleything to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 30 years.
In exchange for pleading guilty to charges of aggravated murder, improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation, felonious assault and five counts of tampering with evidence, Bleything’s other charges of possession of criminal tools and inducing panic were dismissed — an exchange that allowed Bleything to skirt the maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
Bleything, a Springfield resident and 2020 graduate of Yellow Springs High School, was arrested March 17 — three days after the fatal shooting of 71-year-old Vang in her South High Street home.
Vang’s obituary, which appeared in the March 28 issue of the News, described her as having been “the embodiment of hearth and home for so many, and … one of the kindest and most beautiful humans.”
Following a weekend-long manhunt, police apprehended Bleything in Clark County, 16 miles away from the scene of the murder, approximately three hours after he pointed his gun at another Yellow Springs resident on West South College Street.
Upon his arrest, Bleything initially pleaded not guilty to the murder, and later, not guilty by reason of insanity. That plea was officially withdrawn Nov. 15, ahead of a jury trial that was scheduled for Nov. 18, which was supplanted by the hearing in which Bleything pleaded guilty.
Jackson Isaiah Bleything, 22, was arrested on Sunday, March 17 in connection with a homicide that occurred on Thursday, March 14. The 2020 Yellow Springs High School graduate pleaded guilty to murder on Nov. 18 and faces life in prison. (Submitted photo)
Chief responds to plea, earlier concerns
As the News reported earlier this year, a number of local residents were not only troubled by Bleything’s crimes, but also the response from the Yellow Springs Police Department, or YSPD — in particular, public communications from the department between the murder and the arrest of Bleything three days later.
The situation began Thursday, March 14, when YSPD responded at 7:45 p.m. to a report of an assault at a residence in the 600 block of South High Street. En route to the residence, the lone on-duty officer received additional information from dispatch that the victim of the alleged assault had possibly suffered a gunshot wound. That information led the officer to issue a “signal 99,” a distress call that spurred over two dozen law enforcement officers from surrounding jurisdictions to the scene. Two hours later, the home was treated as an active crime scene by the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, or BCI.
Several hours after the shooting, the Village of Yellow Springs released a statement via social media to, as Chief Paige Burge told the News earlier this year, “explain the escalated police response” and “inform residents that an ongoing investigation existed.”
The suspect — who, according to Burge, was unknown at the time — had vanished from the crime scene and was at large.
Over that weekend, Burge said that local law enforcement and BCI “worked around the clock … for more than 20 hours collecting evidence and interviewing neighbors and potential witnesses … to determine a suspect or suspects.”
That investigation reached its climax Sunday, March 17, when at approximately 6:15 p.m., YSPD received a 911 call from a West South College Street resident who reported that they had answered their door to a man, identified as Bleything, pointing a gun at them.
Later, at 9:31 p.m. — over three hours after the 911 call — the Village notified local residents via its Facebook page to “be on the lookout” for a person considered to be “armed and dangerous,” to “stay in place” and to “refrain from answering doors,” as BCI and Yellow Springs Police conducted their search.
At 10:19 p.m. a Hyper-Reach emergency notification with text identical to the earlier Facebook post was also issued to area residents.
Then, at 10:59 p.m., the Village canceled its warning via Facebook and Hyper-Reach, and notified the public that there was a “subject in custody.” Investigators had found Bleything in an apartment on Willowdale Road in neighboring Clark County and had him in custody just before 11 p.m.
On Monday, March 18, the Village of Yellow Springs held a press conference during which Police Chief Paige Burge, center, confirmed that Jackson Bleything had been arrested the previous night in connection to a homicide that took place Thursday, March 14. Joining her at the podium were Village Council President Kevin Stokes, left, and Village Manager Johnnie Burns. (Video still)
At both a press conference and regular Village Council meeting the following Monday, Yellow Springs residents and news media outlets packed Council Chambers to air their concerns and pose a number of questions to Chief Burge:
Why didn’t YSPD notify villagers right away that a neighbor had been killed? That the suspect — or several — was on the loose for three days? Why did it take the Village over three hours on Sunday to notify the community that a likely suspect pulled a gun on a resident’s doorstep? Were social media and Hyper-Reach the best modes of communication?
In response to those concerns, Chief Burge deferred in her press conference to what she called “standard procedure” for both the BCI and YSPD not to release details about any ongoing investigation until “definitive information” is made available.
Earlier this week — over half a year since Vang’s death and with Bleything behind bars — Chief Burge spoke with the News via email to address Bleything’s plea and what she described as the “belief that the community at large remained at risk during the investigation” and that YSPD “intentionally failed” to notify community members of any potential risk to their safety.
“During the execution of the initial search warrant, conducted to identify any evidence at the residence related to the homicide, evidence was discovered that provided investigators with a possible motive for the homicide,” Burge explained. “As a result of this discovery, a second investigation was initiated and ran parallel to the homicide investigation.”
That discovery of incriminating evidence, Burge said, led her and investigators to believe that there was “no greater threat to the community.”
She added that, while the homicide investigation closed upon Bleything’s plea of guilt, the second investigation is still open and ongoing. She declined to give any additional details about that ongoing investigation.
In her recent correspondence with the News, Burge repeated similar sentiments to those she held in March — that she remains proud of her department and their contributions to apprehending Bleything.
“Although the investigation was handled properly, any complex law enforcement response will be met with challenges and criticism — both of which I welcome,” she said. “We were unwavering in our commitment to public safety and justice for this family, which resulted in the apprehension and conviction of a homicide suspect who is no longer a threat to this or any other community.”
Chief Burge added: “For the family’s sake, we are very glad that this chapter is now closed.”
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