Inset left: Travis Jackson (Montgomery County Jail). Inset right: Tanner Staggs (Obituary). Background: The area where Jackson shot and killed Staggs on Indiana Avenue in Dayton, Ohio (Google Maps).
An Ohio resident has been sentenced to spend decades in prison after fatally shooting a landscaper over a dispute regarding a perceived mess.
Travis Jackson, aged 36, was found guilty by a jury in late May for the murder of 22-year-old Tanner Staggs. In addition to two murder charges, the Montgomery County jury convicted him of felonious assault with a deadly weapon, felonious assault causing serious injury, discharging a firearm in a prohibited area, and involuntary manslaughter.
On Wednesday, which would have marked Staggs’ 23rd birthday, Judge Mary Wiseman of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas sentenced Jackson to a term of 21 years to life in prison.
The tragic incident unfolded on September 18, 2025, on Indiana Avenue in Dayton.
That morning, officers from the Dayton Police Department arrived at the scene following reports of gunfire, discovering Staggs on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds. He was immediately transported to Miami Valley Hospital but succumbed to his injuries.
At the time he was shot, Staggs was on duty for Dunham’s Lawn Care LLC, as reported by the Dayton Daily News.
“Tanner always had a positive attitude, was a good team player, got along well with others, was patient and understanding and a leader among our crew,” the landscaping business said in a statement provided to the newspaper. “He was a young man with so much life ahead of him. His passing leaves an unimaginable void for his loved ones, our team and the entire landscaping community.”
Investigators spoke with witnesses who said Jackson exited a home on the day in question and began arguing with Staggs about getting grass clippings and dirt on his vehicle during the landscaping work, according to court documents obtained by the Daily News.
In response, Jackson was told the crew would use a blower to get the grass clippings off his vehicle, but this proposed solution did not appease Jackson.
Instead, the defendant pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired multiple times. Ultimately, Staggs was shot twice.
The killer, for his part, offered a slightly different narrative during a 911 call, to investigators and during his trial by way of his defense attorney, according to Dayton-based CBS affiliate WHIO.
To hear Jackson tell it, he only fired his weapon after being hit without warning. His lawyer said Jackson had made a reasonable request.
Other landscapers, however, directly contradicted this claim — testifying they never saw any such assault but that Jackson spoke disrespectfully and argued before pulling out his gun and firing.
In the end, the jury agreed with the state. As the guilty verdict was read aloud, the defendant put his hand to his face, WHIO reported.
“It is unimaginable that someone would become so upset about grass clippings on their car that they would fatally shoot someone,” Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said in a statement announcing the sentence. “Using a firearm to settle minor disputes is never acceptable.”
