CLEARFIELD – A New Millport man accused of homicide in the death of a DuBois woman has a history of mental issues and problems with the law.
Joshua Jeffrey Nelson, 31, currently an inmate of state prison, was charged Tuesday with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, burglary, resisting arrest, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, driving with a suspended license, reckless driving and criminal attempt in relation to a crime spree in the Brown Street area of DuBois Aug. 12, 2015.
Nelson allegedly stole a vehicle, struck a woman while doing yard work, fled the scene and then entered a nearby residence where he assaulted two women.
At the time of the incident, Nelson was on probation for a criminal trespass case from 2014 and a burglary case from 2013. He was also awaiting a preliminary hearing in two other cases from July of 2015.
Nelson was charged with simple assault after an incident at his residence in New Millport on July 3, 2015.
According to that affidavit, the victim told police that he and a woman had given a ride home to Nelson’s girlfriend. While they were at the residence, Nelson became extremely irritated and started walking toward his pit-bull, which was caged, to let the dog out. The victim said the dog is extremely vicious and had already bitten someone else in the past.
When the victim tried to stop Nelson from releasing the dog, Nelson fell to the ground. He immediately got up and grabbed a knife. Stating “this is my house,” he raised the knife over his shoulder. Another witness grabbed Nelson’s arm quickly to stop him from striking the victim. The victim told police he had never been so scared and he feared for his life.
Nelson was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in this case on July 29, 2015 but the hearing was continued because he was admitted to a mental hospital in Clarion.
On July 31, 2015, Nelson was in trouble again: this time for defiant trespass. According to that affidavit, Nelson was on the property of the Park Avenue Towers in Curwensville even though he was not privileged to be there.
Police spoke with his mother who lived in that building. She advised the officers that Nelson was released from a Clarion mental hospital two days earlier. Recently he had made statements to her about “suicide by cop.”
Officers were able to make contact with Nelson, who gave no indication that he was in distress or wanting to harm himself. Once he was in custody, Nelson commented that he thought he left the hospital too soon and would like to be admitted back to the facility. Nelson was transported to an area hospital where he spoke with a mobile crisis worker.
Nelson has been incarcerated since he was taken into custody in DuBois on August 12, 2015.
During his probation revocation hearing in November, his attorney, Douglas Campbell told Judge Paul E. Cherry that he heard from others that Nelson was a kind, sweet person and would never hurt anyone on purpose. He explained Nelson was on medication now and is in a “much better place.”
Nelson spoke in his own defense stating he has gone through a lot, but he really tried to get help when he admitted himself to the hospital for treatment and therapy. He apologized to Cherry for being in front of him again.
“I just want to get better,” he said.
At that time, Cherry sentenced Nelson to three to 10 years in state prison for criminal trespass.
That charge stems from an incident that occurred in Knox Township on July 2, 2014 when Nelson led police on a chase, burglarized a camp and then resisted being taken into custody.
In January, Nelson pleaded guilty in the other two July of 2015 cases. Cherry gave him a six-month to two years sentence that runs concurrent with his revocation sentence.