On a quiet country road in the Renegade Mountain community near Crab Orchard, Tennessee, a grim discovery was made on the morning of September 12, 2013. A local resident on their way to work happened upon a parked car and inside, found the bodies of four young people, all of whom had been shot to death. One of the victims was 16-year-old Jonathan R. Lajeunesse. He was a male who enjoyed skateboarding, fishing, and hunting.
The other victims were identified as 22-year-old Danielle Jacobson, who was the driver, 17-year-old Steven Presley, and 17-year-old Dominic Davis. The shootings were believed to have occurred late on September 11th or in the early hours of September 12th.
The investigation, led by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, quickly pointed to a planned rendezvous that had taken a violent turn. Authorities determined that the victims were not chosen at random but were deliberately targeted in what they described as a botched marijuana sale. The day before his death, Jonathan had told a family member he was going four-wheeling with his friend, Steven Presley, in the Renegade Mountain area and would spend the night at his friend's house. When he didn't call to be picked up the next day, his family had a gut feeling that something was wrong.
Within a day of the discovery, investigators identified 26-year-old Jacob Allen Bennett of Crab Orchard as a person of interest and took him into custody on an unrelated parole violation. His girlfriend, 25-year-old Brittany Lina Yvonn Moser of Dayton, Tennessee, was also implicated. It was alleged that Bennett, accompanied by Moser, had arranged to meet with the victims to purchase marijuana. Bennett had occasionally stayed with his grandparents on Renegade Mountain, a location that had seen failed attempts at development into a resort community.
Jacob Allen Bennett was subsequently indicted on four counts of premeditated murder, four counts of felony murder, and two counts of attempted aggravated robbery. Brittany Moser faced charges of four counts of felony murder and two counts of attempted aggravated robbery for her alleged role in the incident. Prosecutors initially announced they would seek the death penalty for Bennett. However, in June 2016, Bennett pleaded guilty to four counts of felony murder and two counts of attempted aggravated robbery. In a plea agreement, he received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, ensuring he will spend the rest of his life in prison. Jonathan's mother expressed that she was okay with the sentence, acknowledging the lengthy and uncertain nature of death penalty cases. Brittany Moser also later pleaded guilty to her role in the killings.
