On Thursday, March 15, Yellow Springs Police, the Bureau of Criminal Investigations and law enforcement officials from surrounding jurisdictions responded to a fatal shooting at a South High Street residence. 22-year-old Springfield resident and 2020 YSHS graduate Jackson Bleything was arrested in connection with the homicide, and on Nov. 18, pleaded guilty to murder. (Photo by Matt Minde)
Bleything pleads guilty to murder, sentenced to life in prison
- Published: November 18, 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.
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)
Bleything, a Springfield resident and 2020 graduate of Yellow Springs High School, was arrested on 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 was one of the kindest and most beautiful humans.”
Following a weekend-long manhunt, police apprehended Bleything 16 miles away from the scene of the murder in Clark County, 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 That plea was officially withdrawn on Nov. 15 ahead of a jury trial that was scheduled for Nov. 18.
Additional details on Bleything’s sentencing will appear in this week’s print edition of the Yellow Springs News.
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