Townville-area man convicted in Erie County murder trial

Meadville Tribune, The Meadville Tribune, Pa.
·1 min read

Mar. 11—A Townville-area man has been convicted in Erie County Court of Common Pleas of first-degree murder for the January 2021 shooting death of a Union City area man.

Jeffery David Briggs, 53, was found guilty Thursday on criminal homicide and related charges filed by Pennsylvania State Police, according to online court records.

Briggs was on trial in Erie County for the Jan. 26, 2021, shooting death of John Peter Robinson.

Police charged Briggs with shooting Robinson, 48, multiple times outside a home in the 16000 block of Parker Road in Union Township near Union City.

Robinson was found deceased outside the Parker Road home after a neighbor investigated the sound of gunshots, according to the arrest affidavit filed in the case.

A jury found Briggs guilty on a total of five counts — first-degree murder, a first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony charge of aggravated assault, a first-degree misdemeanor for possession of an instrument of crime with intent, and a second-degree misdemeanor charge of recklessly endangering another person, according to court records.

Briggs faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced May 3 by Erie County Judge Erin Connelly Marucci.

Briggs remains held in the Erie County Prison without bond awaiting sentencing.