Chester County man who killed next-door neighbor sentenced to life in prison
Clayton P. Carter III, of West Goshen, shot his neighbor close to where their property met, then leaned over down and fired a second shot into his head.
A Chester County man who shot and killed his next-door neighbor after years of mounting discord was sentenced Thursday to life in prison.
Clayton B. Carter III of West Goshen killed George Brooks Jennings during an argument outside their homes in August 2017. Authorities said Carter shot Jennings close to where their property lines met on the 300 block of Box Elder Drive, then leaned over and fired a second shot into his head. Jennings’ wife, Jill, saw the shooting from a window.
Dozens of Jennings’ family and friends filled Judge Ann Marie Wheatcraft’s courtroom in West Chester on Thursday afternoon. Jennings’ wife, brother, brother-in-law, and father-in law spoke tearfully of the man they called “Brooks,” who they said deeply cared for his wife and son and was one of the friendliest people in the neighborhood.
Jennings was devoted to being the best father he could to his son Matthew, the family said, having lost his own father to cancer as a child.
“I miss him so much,” said his wife. “We had plans for a long and happy future together.”
Carter, the Jenningses said, ripped apart a tight-knit family. ”How are we supposed to live and function after what you have done?” Jill Jennings asked.
She read a brief statement from her son, who was 9 when his father was killed, in which he said, “After what you did to my dad, we have never been the same.”
Carter, wearing a black suit and green dress shirt, shot back at the family when given a chance to speak.
In a lengthy, rambling essay he read aloud, Carter maintained his innocence. He lambasted the arguments prosecutors Thomas Ost-Prisco and Vincent Cocco made during trial, and called Jill Jennings a liar and her deceased husband a drunk.
“Brooks was a predator, and I was the prey,” said Carter, 53, as the Jennings family laughed at his remarks. “I owe the Jennings family nothing, but they owe my family an apology.”
It was the same position he maintained when West Goshen police arrested him for Jennings’ murder two years ago. Carter said he acted in self-defense after Jennings, 51, lunged at him with a knife. But Jennings’ fingerprints were not on the knife, authorities said, and Carter had planted it at the scene.
Prosecutors said the men had argued over a security system Jennings set up that featured two bright spotlights that shone directly into Carter’s driveway. When Carter arrived home from a late-night trip to the grocery store and discovered the lights around 1 a.m., he confronted his neighbor and the two men clashed.
At one point, Carter went into his house and returned with a .380-caliber Ruger semiautomatic handgun.
As the fight escalated, authorities said, Carter shot Jennings, who fell to the ground. Carter watched Jennings for about 12 seconds, prosecutors said, then shot him again.
In June, a Chester County jury found Carter guilty of first-degree murder, possessing an instrument of crime, and tampering with evidence.
“Quite frankly, he deserves the small cage he’s about to be put into,” said Ost-Prisco, the prosecutor.
The shooting in an otherwise peaceful neighborhood was the culmination of years of anger and acts of aggression, authorities said.
Carter once pitched a skeleton decoration in his yard and refused to take it down after Jennings said it might frighten neighborhood children, prosecutors said. He also argued with Jennings’ wife and suggested that her brother shoot his dog in the head.
Jennings, in turn, referred to Carter, the former owner of Loretta’s Mobile Home Park in Downingtown, as “trailer trash,” and vowed to get him to move out of the neighborhood. To annoy him, Jennings, a member of the Chester County Republican Committee, planted Trump-Pence campaign signs in his yard facing Carter’s home.
Carter had called West Goshen police dozens of times to complain that Jennings was provoking him, but little was done and police filed no charges. West Goshen police have said they did as much as possible to contain the arguments.
During the trial, Carter’s attorney, Joseph P. Green Jr., suggested that West Goshen police failed to act because of Jennings’ political connections.
Amid the growing tension, authorities said, Carter fantasized for a year about killing Jennings before he pulled the trigger.
“You killed my husband,” Jill Jennings said. “I witnessed it. He never would have harmed you.”