In the early hours of a Sunday morning in May 2017, the life of Earl Frager Watlington Jr., a 34-year-old man from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was brought to a tragic and abrupt end. The incident, which unfolded in the area of Conestoga and Bailey Streets in Swatara Township, was a result of gun violence. At approximately 1:54 a.m. on May 21st, police were dispatched to the scene following reports of shots fired.
Upon their arrival, they discovered Watlington in front of a residence on Conestoga Street, suffering from gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a local hospital for emergency medical treatment, but tragically, he did not survive his injuries.
The investigation that followed quickly identified a suspect: 28-year-old Jahnaey Chase of Harrisburg. An arrest warrant was issued, charging her with criminal homicide and carrying a firearm without a license. As the search for Chase commenced, law enforcement also implicated her brother, 29-year-old David A. Chase Jr., in connection with the shooting. It was alleged that he had attempted to discard the handgun used in the incident in a neighboring yard. He was subsequently apprehended and faced charges of tampering with evidence and illegal possession of a firearm, as a prior felony conviction prohibited him from owning one.
In a significant development, Jahnaey Chase, accompanied by the Chief of the Harrisburg Bureau of Police, turned herself in to the Swatara Township Police without incident. This brought an end to the immediate search for the primary suspect in Watlington's death. The legal process then began to unfold for both siblings.
Ultimately, Jahnaey Chase pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Earl Watlington Jr. and was sentenced to a term of three and a half to ten years in a state correctional facility. Her brother, David Chase Jr., was found guilty by a jury of being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. The conviction stemmed from his actions on the morning of the shooting, where he was seen by an officer holding the weapon used in the commission of the crime.
