A man who gunned down a couple in a Santa Ana mobile home and later returned to set the residence ablaze was sentenced on Friday, June 5 to 14 years in prison.
Jason Phillip Blanchard, 47, accepted a plea deal last month in which he admitted to two counts of voluntary manslaughter for the killing of Steven Lucero, 30, and Jillian Jones, 33, at the Bit O’Home Trailer Park on West McFadden Avenue in June 2022.
An Orange County Superior Court jury already had found Blanchard guilty of arson and weapons charges. But the jury deadlocked on the murder charges, leading to the mistrial and the plea deal for lesser voluntary manslaughter charges.
Jones’ family members during a sentencing hearing in a Santa Ana courtroom on Friday afternoon described the impact of her killing in often-emotional terms.
“Losing my sister has left a hole in my heart that words can’t describe,” said Jemma Jones, one of Jilian’s siblings. “She really was a light in so many lives, just a ball of love.”
Jones’ daughter, who was 16 at the time of the killings, said her “heart stopped” when she learned her mother was dead.
“Now I get to suffer because of a selfish act, Jason, that you made,” the daughter said. “You don’t know what you took from me… You are a monster and you belong behind bars for the rest of your life.”
The motive for the killings — if one exists — is unclear. The prosecution described Blanchard as killing Lucero and Jones for “no reason.” The defense said the killings may have been tied to the alleged theft by Lucero of a vehicle and trailer that was owned by a homeless man that Blanchard had contact with.
Security footage showed Blanchard and another man, John Acosta, quickly leaving the mobile home after the killings.
Acosta claimed that Blanchard forced Lucero into a bedroom and then struck him in head with a gun, causing the weapon to fire and a gunshot to hit Jones. Blanchard responded by shooting Lucero in the head, Acosta added.
The defense, during the trial, alleged that it was actually Acosta who killed the couple, not Blanchard.
About an hour and a half after the killing, security footage showed Blanchard returning alone to the mobile home with a bag prosecutors say contained a gas can and then leaving as flames could be seen erupting from the residence.
Lucero’s body was quickly located in the remnants of the burned up mobile home. But it took authorities four days to find Jones’ body. During those four days, Jones’ family said they held out “false hope” as they desperately searched for her.
“She was basically collateral damage,” one of Jones’ sisters told the judge, adding that their family had come to love Lucero as well. “They didn’t deserve this.”
Blanchard was given credit toward his prison sentence for the approximately four years he has already spent in local jail while awaiting trial.