HILLSBORO, Ohio — Javen Austin Meadows, 23, was sentenced Monday to 18 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to murder and felonious assault in connection with a May 31 incident in Hillsboro.
Meadows entered the pleas during a hearing Aug. 10 in Highland County Common Pleas Court. The hearing had originally been scheduled as a pretrial.
Meadows had been indicted in July on two murder counts, attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault, strangulation and a forfeiture specification.
Under the plea agreement, Meadows pleaded guilty to one murder count and one felonious assault count. The remaining felony charges were dismissed.
The case involved an incident at a Hillsboro business in the early morning hours of May 31. According to the case information, Meadows was driving a Ford F-150 when he struck another truck.
Meadows was also accused of assaulting a woman at the scene. As he left in the truck, he struck a 49-year-old man who had gone toward the area while attempting to intervene. The man died from his injuries.
The court sentenced Meadows to 15 years to life for murder, followed by a consecutive three-year sentence for felonious assault. The combined sentence is 18 years to life.
