{"id":12735,"date":"2026-06-05T23:01:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T23:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735"},"modified":"2026-06-05T23:01:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T23:01:37","slug":"gunman-who-killed-a-couple-and-set-their-santa-ana-mobile-home-on-fire-gets-14-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735","title":{"rendered":"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A man who gunned down a couple in a Santa Ana mobile home and then later returned to set the residence ablaze was sentenced on Friday, June 5 to 14 years in prison.<\/p>\n

Read more Trabuco High Graduation 2026: Our best photos of the ceremony<\/a><\/p>\n

Jason Phillip Blanchard, 47, accepted a plea deal last month in which he admitted to two counts of voluntary manslaughter for the killing of Steven Lucero, 30, and Jillian Jones, 33, at the Bit O\u2019Home Trailer Park on West McFadden Avenue in June 2022.<\/p>\n

An Orange County Superior Court jury already had found Blanchard guilty of arson and weapons charges. But the jury deadlocked on the murder charges, leading to the mistrial and the plea deal for lesser voluntary manslaughter charges.<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 family members during a sentencing hearing in a Santa Ana courtroom on Friday afternoon described the impact of her killing in often-emotional terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cLosing my sister has left a hole in my heart that words can\u2019t describe,\u201d said Jemma Jones, one of Jilian\u2019s siblings. \u201cShe really was a light in so many lives, just a ball of love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019 daughter, who was 16 at the time of the killings, said her \u201cheart stopped\u201d when she learned her mother was dead.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I get to suffer because of a selfish act, Jason, that you made,\u201d the daughter said. \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you took from me\u2026 You are a monster and you belong behind bars for the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The motive for the killings \u2014 if one exists \u2014 is unclear. The prosecution described Blanchard as killing Lucero and Jones for \u201cno reason.\u201d The defense said the killings may have been tied to the alleged theft by Lucero of a vehicle and trailer that was owned by a homeless man that Blanchard had contact with.<\/p>\n

Read more Newport Harbor High School Graduation 2026: Our best photos of the ceremony<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Security footage showed Blanchard and another man, John Acosta, quickly leaving the mobile home after the killings.<\/p>\n

Acosta claimed that Blanchard forced Lucero into a bedroom and then struck him in head with a gun, causing the weapon to fire and a gunshot to hit Jones. Blanchard responded by shooting Lucero in the head, Acosta added.<\/p>\n

The defense, during the trial, alleged that it was actually Acosta who killed the couple, not Blanchard.<\/p>\n

About an hour and a half after the killing, security footage showed Blanchard returning alone to the mobile home with a bag prosecutors say contained a gas can and then leaving as flames could be seen erupting from the residence.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Lucero\u2019s body was quickly located in the remnants of the burned up mobile home. But it took authorities four days to find Jones\u2019 body. During those four days, Jones\u2019 family said they held out \u201cfalse hope\u201d as they desperately searched for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was basically collateral damage,\u201d one of Jones\u2019 sisters told the judge, adding that their family had come to love Lucero as well. \u201cThey didn\u2019t deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanchard was given credit toward his prison sentence for the approximately four years he has already spent in local jail while awaiting trial.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump calls for military to accelerate use of AI while protecting Americans<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason Blanchard admitted to voluntary manslaughter after a jury deadlocked on murder charges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nGunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years - Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jason Blanchard admitted to voluntary manslaughter after a jury deadlocked on murder charges.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T23:01:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"headline\":\"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T23:01:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735\"},\"wordCount\":547,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6b69e6cec1d64f2744c5032f28446c2f.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735\",\"name\":\"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years - Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6b69e6cec1d64f2744c5032f28446c2f.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T23:01:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6b69e6cec1d64f2744c5032f28446c2f.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6b69e6cec1d64f2744c5032f28446c2f.webp\",\"width\":851,\"height\":564},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?p=12735#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Silicon Valley Moving Post\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years - Silicon Valley Moving Post","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years - Silicon Valley Moving Post","og_description":"Jason Blanchard admitted to voluntary manslaughter after a jury deadlocked on murder charges.","og_url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735","og_site_name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","article_published_time":"2026-06-05T23:01:37+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"headline":"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years","datePublished":"2026-06-05T23:01:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735"},"wordCount":547,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6b69e6cec1d64f2744c5032f28446c2f.webp","articleSection":["Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735","name":"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years - Silicon Valley Moving Post","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6b69e6cec1d64f2744c5032f28446c2f.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-05T23:01:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6b69e6cec1d64f2744c5032f28446c2f.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6b69e6cec1d64f2744c5032f28446c2f.webp","width":851,"height":564},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12735#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Gunman who killed a couple and set their Santa Ana mobile home on fire gets 14 years"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/","name":"Silicon Valley Moving Post","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/636e2e5a10a21cf87fe6eb5951e8a6b7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}