Lancaster County man sentenced to up to 50 years in prison for 2022 murder

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A Lancaster County man could spend up to 50 years in prison for the 2022 shooting death of 25-year-old Jatavis Scott.

According to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office, Tyler Wilson, 30, of Columbia, was convicted by the jury of third-degree murder, persons not in possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm without a license and eight counts of recklessly endangering another person for shooting Scott in the parking lot of the former Twenty3 Club following a bar fight that continued at the exterior on March 29, 2022.

Lancaster County Judge Thomas Sponaugle sentenced Wilson to 25 to 50 years in prison for the fatal shooting.

Wilson's defense attorney said Wilson was a good candidate for rehabilitation and cited the support of Wilson's family as a reason for a mixed sentence that began at age 17.5.

However, Assistant Prosecutor Mark Fetterman argued that the victim's family also came to the trial to support Scott.

“They were from Mississippi,” Fetterman said. “The difference is that their loved one is gone. The victim also had a light and the accused turned it off.

Fetterman emphasized that Wilson and Scott did not know each other before the night of the murder.

“It was a senseless murder,” Fetterman said. “It wasn't a gang fight gone bad or anything like that. There were only people at the bar.

According to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office, evidence showed that a verbal argument began between Scott and Wilson inside the club and eventually escalated into a physical altercation.

Club Twenty3 security managed to move the parties outside the club. The groups were briefly separated before reuniting and Wilson and Scott allegedly began fighting one-on-one.

The individuals were separated again before beginning to approach each other when video evidence showed a flash of light coming from the end of Wilson's arm, matching a muzzle flash from a firearm.

Further testimony and evidence revealed that two shots were fired and that Wilson was within a few feet of the victim at the time of the shooting.

Scott was pronounced dead after being taken to a local hospital. The Lancaster County Coroner's Office later ruled his death a gunshot wound to the chest and a homicide.

“Anyone watching the video would say, 'Just get in your car and leave, because nothing good is going to happen right now,'” Judge Sponaugle said during the sentencing proceedings. “This defendant is blowing things out further by pursuing the victim and ending the victim’s life. By ending the victim's life, you have ruined your own.

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