The punishment followed a murder conviction in a dispute that began over lawn debris on a parked car.

DAYTON, Ohio — A judge sentenced Travis Jackson to 21 years to life in prison June 10 for fatally shooting 22-year-old landscaper Tanner Staggs during a September dispute over grass clippings and dirt that landed on Jackson’s car.

The sentence closed the trial phase of a case that began as a routine lawn-care job on Indiana Avenue and turned deadly within minutes. A Montgomery County jury convicted Jackson of two murder counts and four related offenses after rejecting his claim that he fired because Staggs attacked him. The hearing occurred on what would have been Staggs’ 23rd birthday, adding another painful date to a case his family had followed from the shooting through the verdict.

Jackson, 36 at the time of sentencing, faced a prison term that gives him no guarantee of release after 21 years. The life portion of the sentence means the state parole authority must decide whether he can leave prison once he becomes eligible. His convictions included murder, felonious assault with a deadly weapon, felonious assault causing serious physical harm, discharging a firearm on or near prohibited premises and involuntary manslaughter. The jury returned guilty findings after about seven hours of deliberations spread across two days in May. Jackson put a hand to his face as the verdicts were announced in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. The findings established criminal responsibility for a confrontation that prosecutors described as an extreme and unjustified response to a minor neighborhood complaint.

The shooting happened Sept. 18, 2025, while Staggs was working with a crew from Dunham’s Lawn Care LLC at a property near Jackson’s home. Investigators said grass clippings and dirt reached Jackson’s vehicle as the crew worked. Witnesses told police that Jackson came outside and confronted the workers. Crew members said they offered to use a blower to remove the debris before finishing the job. Prosecutors said the offer did not end the dispute. Jackson produced a 9 mm handgun and fired several times, striking Staggs twice. Dayton police officers were sent to the area at about 11:15 a.m. They found Staggs wounded on or near the sidewalk and arranged emergency transport to Miami Valley Hospital, where he died. The shooting changed the focus of the street from yard work to an emergency response and homicide investigation.

Prosecutors built their case around testimony from members of the landscaping crew, the physical evidence and Jackson’s own statements after the gunfire. Witnesses said they did not see Staggs strike Jackson before the shots. The state argued that Jackson was angry about debris on his vehicle and chose to escalate a dispute that workers had already offered to resolve. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Jacob Redden told jurors during opening statements that the case began with an argument over grass clippings on a car. Prosecutors said Jackson’s use of deadly force was not a lawful response to the situation described by the crew. The number of shots, the location of Staggs’ wounds and the accounts given at the scene became important parts of the state’s presentation. Authorities said Staggs suffered two gunshot wounds, including a wound that proved fatal.

Jackson gave a different account. He acknowledged during a 911 call that he shot Staggs but said he feared for his life after being attacked. Defense attorney Anthony VanNoy argued that Jackson first made a reasonable request about cleaning the car. VanNoy said Staggs and another worker then confronted Jackson and that Staggs struck him, possibly while using brass knuckles. Jackson testified in his own defense and told jurors he was woozy and believed the attack would continue. “I was in fear of my life and from the attack and being struck,” Jackson said in the recorded call played in court. The defense asked jurors to view the gunfire as self-defense rather than murder. Prosecutors challenged that account as unsupported by the eyewitnesses who were close enough to observe the confrontation.

The trial gave jurors competing descriptions of the same brief encounter. Before opening statements, jurors visited the Indiana Avenue location where the shooting occurred. The visit allowed them to see the street, the relationship between the homes, the work area and the place where the confrontation unfolded. Back in court, the state called witnesses and police officers over several days. The defense called two witnesses, including Jackson. Closing arguments ended May 21, and jurors began considering the evidence that afternoon. They recessed for the evening, returned the next morning and announced their decision at about 2 p.m. May 22. The guilty verdicts showed that jurors accepted the prosecution’s account beyond a reasonable doubt and rejected the legal claim that Jackson reasonably needed deadly force to protect himself.

Staggs’ death drew attention beyond the courtroom because he was killed while performing ordinary outdoor work. He had traveled from the Eaton area for the landscaping assignment and was 22 when he died. People who knew him described a young man with strong ties to his family, co-workers and community. A fundraising page created after the shooting said he had been a committed baseball player, loved animals and shared his father’s interest in hair metal and 1990s rap. Donations for funeral costs passed $30,000 in the early days after his death. Dunham’s Lawn Care said his loss left an “unimaginable void” for his loved ones, the company and the landscaping community. Those descriptions placed a full life behind the courtroom references to the victim and the evidence.

The timing of sentencing carried particular weight for Staggs’ family. June 10 was the day he would have turned 23. Instead of marking his birthday, relatives returned to court to hear the punishment imposed on the man convicted of killing him. The hearing came less than three weeks after the jury’s decision. Under Ohio procedure, the court merged or accounted for overlapping offenses when determining the final prison term because several counts arose from the same shooting. The resulting sentence requires Jackson to serve at least 21 years before he may be considered for release. A parole hearing at that point would not guarantee freedom. Officials could keep him incarcerated for a longer period, including for life, based on state law and the review process in effect when he becomes eligible.

The case also showed how investigators used statements made immediately after the shooting alongside later courtroom testimony. Jackson did not deny firing the weapon. The central dispute was whether the circumstances justified his decision to shoot. His 911 call preserved his first explanation, while crew members supplied accounts from people who witnessed the argument. Detectives compared those statements with the scene and medical findings. Prosecutors later presented that material to the jury as a connected record of what happened before, during and after the shots. The defense focused on Jackson’s reported fear and his claim that he had been struck without warning. Jurors were required to decide not merely whether Jackson fired, but whether the state had disproved self-defense and established each charged crime.

Ohio law placed that question at the center of the trial after the defense raised self-defense. Jurors considered whether Jackson reasonably believed he faced imminent death or great bodily harm and whether his response met the legal requirements for deadly force. The prosecution argued the testimony did not support such a belief. Crew members described an offer to clean the vehicle rather than a threat that required gunfire. The defense maintained that events changed when Jackson was allegedly hit. No reported witness testimony confirmed the claimed blow by Staggs, and the jury returned guilty verdicts on every count submitted for its decision. The verdict did not resolve every personal disagreement about the seconds before the shooting, but it resolved the criminal case at the trial level.

For the landscaping crew, the events interrupted a workday that had begun with equipment, grass and a neighborhood job. For police, the scene became a collection point for witness accounts, ballistic evidence and the gunman’s explanation. For Staggs’ family, it began months of court proceedings in which his final moments were discussed in detail. Relatives said after the verdict that they felt relief because the trial was over and they could begin grieving without an approaching jury decision. Their relief did not erase the loss. It reflected the end of uncertainty over whether Jackson would be held criminally responsible and the start of a new period defined by the sentence.

Any further litigation would move through post-trial motions or the Ohio appeals process, while his first possible release remains tied to a future parole review after the minimum term. Jackson is now serving a term of 21 years to life following his June 10 sentencing.

Author note: Last updated July 12, 2026.