Jonathan Arthur Blackburn, a 23-year-old White/Caucasian male from Worthington, Pennsylvania, died late on the night of May 22, 2022, after a shooting at his family's rural property in North Buffalo Township, Armstrong County. Online reports also list the incident in the Williamsport area of Armstrong County. Jonathan had grown up on the Blackburn Family Farm, the same place where his obituary says he was born on June 14, 1998, and where he died at 10:27 p.m. He worked with his father in Blackburn and Son Construction and was described as a skilled carpenter who loved the farm, the outdoors, camping, hiking, rock climbing, snowboarding, skateboarding and building things with his hands.
The shooting happened after a night spent around a campfire on the property. Court records later described four people present: Jonathan, Nicholas Alexander Fortuna, Jonathan's girlfriend Ava Psoras, and their friend Nathan Brison. The group had been drinking, and testimony later showed that Jonathan's blood alcohol content was 0.216. What began as a social evening unraveled after Jonathan and Psoras argued, with testimony indicating the dispute centered on her leaving and allegations of cheating. Psoras was in a relationship with Jonathan, but she was also having an affair with Fortuna, and Fortuna had previously sent messages expressing love for her, jealousy of Jonathan, and a desire to kill Jonathan because of alleged abuse.
According to the case record, Jonathan walked away from the campfire area around 10:00 p.m. Fortuna, Psoras and Brison then got into Fortuna's pickup truck and drove down toward where Psoras's car was parked near a trailer. Psoras got into her own vehicle while Fortuna remained in the driver's seat of the truck and Brison sat in the passenger seat. Jonathan then emerged near the trailer and tried to get into Psoras's car, but she would not let him in. He yelled at her, and the confrontation shifted toward Fortuna's truck.
Accounts differed about the final moments. According to Fortuna's statement to police, Jonathan had pounded on the truck window, then moved toward the rear of the truck with his back turned. Fortuna said he rolled down the window, fired a warning shot into the ground, and told Jonathan to back off. He claimed Jonathan then lunged through the open window and reached for him, prompting him to fire several shots because he feared for his life. Brison's testimony differed, saying Jonathan broke through the closed window, reached in, grabbed Fortuna around the neck and tried to choke him before Fortuna fired. Psoras said she could not see clearly because of the headlights and her own movement in the car, but she saw Jonathan doing something at the truck window and heard the shots.
First responders found Jonathan dead in tall grass near the driveway. Authorities said he had been shot five times. A boxcutter was found in one of his hands, though Fortuna and Brison both said they had not seen him holding a weapon during the attack, and testimony indicated Jonathan had used a boxcutter earlier that night for cutting cables. Investigators found evidence that raised questions about Fortuna's self-defense claim, including that the truck window appeared to have been rolled down when it shattered, that some shots traveled through the truck door where the window panel was located, that Jonathan's hands were undamaged, that Fortuna had no bruising or scratches on his neck, and that no blood reached the inside of the truck or Fortuna's clothing.
Nicholas Alexander Fortuna, then 24, of Kittanning, was arrested after the shooting. Pennsylvania State Police charged him with criminal homicide, possession of an instrument of crime with intent, and possession of a weapon. He was denied bail and held in Armstrong County Jail. Early police reports said the shooting occurred in the 200 block of Wilson Road, with some reports identifying the address as 251 Wilson Road. Armstrong County District Attorney Katie Charlton responded to the scene and approved the homicide and related charges.
The case eventually went to trial, where the jury did not convict Fortuna of murder but found him guilty of voluntary manslaughter. On January 24, 2024, he was sentenced to 54 to 120 months in prison. Fortuna appealed, arguing that the evidence did not disprove self-defense and that the jury should have been instructed that he had no duty to retreat because Jonathan allegedly had a weapon capable of lethal use. In September 2025, the Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed the judgment of sentence, finding that the evidence was sufficient for the jury to reject Fortuna's self-defense claim or conclude that firing five shots was more force than reasonably necessary.
