Lexington man gets 40 year sentence for Valentines Day home invasion

Twenty-year-old Jonathan Christian Hughes was sentenced Thursday in the terrifying 2015 Valentines Day home invasion on Doe Trail Drive in Lexington County, 11th Circuit solicitor Donnie Myers said in a news release.

Along with two accomplices, Hughes, armed with a shotgun, kicked in the door of the home and threatened to kill the three children asleep in the back of the house if the home owners didn’t cooperate, the sheriff’s department said at the time of the three men’s arrests.

After herding the married couple into a shower stall, Hughes, Antonio Lamont Johnson, 25, and Jahmand Maurice McNeill, 22, ransacked the house, taking Wii and Xbox video game consoles, a Samsung Galaxy Note smart phone, iPod portable media players, the woman’s pocketbook and a family Bible.

Hughes and a co-defendant were seen near the scene, questioned by deputies and arrested later. The third co-defendant was captured during another home burglary a few hours later.

During sentencing, the assistant prosecutor told Judge William Seals that it was horrible for the parents to be separated from their children during the crime and that the incident has caused ear in the family and community.

Although Hughes had no prior record and could have faced a 15 year prison sentence, the judge imposed a 40 year sentence,

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Lexington man gets 40 year sentence for Valentines Day home invasion."