Pa. man accused of raping, killing his ex-girlfriend’s 12-year-old child and hiding her body in freezer

COLUMBIA, Pa. (TCD) — A 39-year-old man is accused of raping and killing his ex-girlfriend’s 12-year-old daughter earlier this month.

According to a news release from the Columbia Borough Police Department, on Feb. 10, officers responded to the Wyndham Lancaster Hotel to a report of a domestic disturbance, where officers spoke with Jason Shackelford and his girlfriend. The girlfriend, who police did not identify, reportedly told police Shackelford admitted to her that he kidnapped her child from the 500 block of Avenue H while she was working a night shift on Feb. 8 into Feb. 9.

According to police, the woman said she and Shackelford were in the process of ending their relationship, and she wanted him to move out. On Feb. 9 at approximately 6:35 a.m., Shackelford allegedly texted his girlfriend while she was at work and said her child was sick in bed.

Shackelford and the woman reportedly argued when she returned home from work, and the child’s bed was empty. Shackelford allegedly told his girlfriend he took the child to New York, and he insisted she was safe. The woman also reportedly told police Shackelford raped her and made her go to the Wyndham Lancaster Hotel with him.

According to police, Shackelford used the child’s “well-being as leverage,” and he sexually assaulted his girlfriend a second time “before allowing her to go smoke a cigarette.” Following the assault, the woman reportedly had hotel staff call police.

Police said Shackelford was interviewed and admitted to raping and killing his girlfriend’s 12-year-old daughter, and he tried to hide the child’s body in a basement chest freezer, where police eventually found her remains.

The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against Shackelford for criminal homicide, according to police, and he was booked into the Lancaster County Prison.