ALLEGHANY COUNTY, Va. – A father walked out of Alleghany County court with no convictions after a two-day retrial in connection to his son’s death.
Benjamin Jacobsen faced a felony charge after his two-year-old accidentally shot himself with Jacobsen’s gun.
Tearful church supporters from Harrisonburg hugged Jacobsen after exiting the Alleghany County Courthouse Friday afternoon.
Jacobsen was facing a child endangerment charge in connection to the death of his son.
[READ MORE: 2-year-old shot, killed at Alleghany County campground]
In June 2020, Jacobsen’s two-year-old son accidentally shot himself with Jacobsen’s gun that was underneath an air mattress while camping near Lake Moomaw.
After two days of reviewing evidence, a dozen jurors were sent to deliberate, but after deliberating twice, the jurors could not make a unanimous decision.
“We were deadlocked,” Pat Harrison, one of the jurors, said. “And that was not going to change. We went around the table several times and everyone gave their reasons why.”
As a father who has lost a son, Harrison said he could not send Jacobsen to jail.
“You think about it all the time,” Harrison said. “It’s not really a punishment. It’s the sadness you carry around with you. I can’t see this man going to jail and have to sit there and think about that.”
On Thursday, 13 jurors were selected. The 13th juror was chosen to be an alternate in case one of the other jurors became ill. However, Judge Ed Stein dismissed the 13th juror before the first round of jury deliberation Friday morning.
After two hung juries, Aaron Cook, Jacobsen’s attorney, motioned to dismiss the felony charge.
Commonwealth prosecutors requested the judge declare the case as a mistrial, instead.
The judge ended up agreeing to Cook’s motion.
Cook tells 10 News the “family has not been able to grieve since the loss of their son” and said they called the outcome “wonderful” and a sign that the “judicial system worked.”
Harrison tells us he had no idea this was Jacobsen’s second time on trial for this incident and said this was one of the toughest cases he has ever had to watch.