Former Jamestown fire chief is sentenced for 2021 shooting
Oct. 1—MERCER — "The scar on my face, I'll see forever when I look in the mirror," gunshot victim Tyler C. Schadt said, recounting the early morning hours of June 13, 2021, to Mercer County Court of Common Pleas Judge D. Neil McEwen.
"He's a danger to society," Schadt, 32, said before Friday's sentencing of David E. Jones, 55, the man who shot Schadt in the head.
"His gun had a laser sight," Schadt said. "He knew what he was doing. He was shooting to kill."
Schadt is the husband of Jones' girlfriend and the two men had got into a fistfight around 1 a.m. June 13, 2021, at property Jones owns in Jamestown. The shooting occurred after Schadt placed a tracking device on his wife's car that led him to the property, where he found his wife and Jones together.
Jones was chief of the Jamestown Volunteer Fire Department at the time of the shooting.
In August, Jones pleaded no contest to felony aggravated assault attempting to cause serious bodily injury for the shooting.
Jones was sentenced Friday by McEwen to serve 4 1/2 to 12 years in state prison for the shooting with 14 days of pre-sentence jail credit. Jones also was ordered to pay $4,420.40 in restitution to Schadt and $1,510.34 in restitution to Schadt's mother, Rhonda.
In pleading no contest, a person does not admit guilt but agrees there is enough evidence to convict if a trial were held. A no contest plea has the same effect for sentencing purposes as pleading guilty.
By pleading no contest to the felony aggravated assault charge, the Mercer County District Attorney's office agreed not to prosecute Jones on charges of attempted first-degree murder and a count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Schadt said the events of that morning have changed his life forever.
"I've been angry, depressed and saddened," Schadt said. "I had to have two surgeries. I was unable to work. I've had emotional pain, physical pain and suffered financially."
Schadt's mother and grandmother also were among those who addressed the court prior to Jones' sentencing.
"It's a phone call that will haunt me the rest of my life — the call that he had just been shot," Rhonda Schadt, Tyler's mother, said of learning of her son's injuries that morning. "Now, more than one year later, we're having to relive this."
"He deserves an extended sentence for the sentence he (Jones) has imposed on our family," said Charlotte Biller, Tyler's grandmother.
Schadt was walking away after the fistfight between the two men when Jones got a handgun out of his truck, fired once and hit Schadt in the jaw area from behind, Meghan Murphy, a Mercer County assistant district attorney, told the judge. Jones' gun had a laser sight and was loaded with hollow point bullets, Murphy said.
Murphy told the court Jones had not shown any remorse for the incident.
Jones spoke briefly prior to sentencing.
"I've spent my entire life trying to protect people," Jones said referring to his work in emergency services before turning toward the Schadt family.
"In no way was I trying to hurt Tyler," Jones said. "I am truly sorry, truly sorry."
Before pronouncing the sentence, McEwen said men were concerned about how it had impacted their respective families, "but neither one thought of that this night. It's only by a stroke of good fortune Mr. Schadt is not dead," the judge said.
McEwen pointed out when Schadt went to confront Jones and Mrs. Schadt that Schadt had the family's three children with him in the vehicle.
McEwen also pointed out that Jones "did not get to build up good deeds to use as jail credit when you take a gun and shoot someone in the head."
"I hope you both understand there's no logic or explanation as to why Tyler is alive," the judge said.
Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.