Sam Amico
A West Virginia man has been sentenced to 38 years in prison in the shooting death of his mother, then lighting a car on fire with her body inside to make it look like an accident.
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Johnny Rogers, of Widen, W.Va., pleaded guilty to multiple charges in the case in April, including voluntary manslaughter and 3rd-degree arson.
The case began in April 2022 when West Virginia troopers responded to a fire off of the side of the road in Clay County near Widen. Once the flames were extinguished, police found the remains of Darlene Faye Jackson inside. Jackson is Rogers’ mother.
Initially, Rogers told police he was worried about his mother as she on her way to visit a friend but had gone missing, according to criminal complaints. The woman Rogers identified as his mother’s friend, however, denied having any knowledge of a supposed Jackson visit that day and said she and Jackson hadn’t spoken for several months.
Troopers said Rogers told them he had driven his four-wheeler to where his mother’s burnt vehicle was located before calling his sister, who called 911.
After troopers could not confirm Rogers’ story that his mother was going to visit a friend, he admitted to shooting his mother in the head with a .22 Magnum Rifle before pushing her vehicle over an embankment off the side of the road, and then setting the vehicle on fire with her inside, authorities said.
Rogers, 35, reportedly lived with his mother at the time of the tragedy.
