NORRISTOWN — A former Abington Township man who targeted his onetime neighbors for a gunpoint home invasion robbery during which he used packing tape and a dog leash to restrain a woman and her adult son will spend at least two decades in prison.
Jonathan David Dell, 25, most recently of the 1700 block of North 16th Street in Philadelphia, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 20 to 40 years in a state correctional facility on charges of robbery, conspiracy, burglary, simple assault, terroristic threats, access device fraud and carrying a firearm without a license in connection with the Dec. 2, 2024, home invasion at a home in the 200 block of Cedar Road in the Elkins Park section of Abington.
A jury convicted Dell of the charges in May.
“These crimes are the most serious, violent type. He acted without any justification or excuse whatsoever,” county Judge William R. Carpenter said as he imposed the sentence.
Dell wept as he addressed the judge before learning his fate.
“I can only imagine how the victims feel. I apologize for the trauma that you had to go through. I do care deeply and I apologize for everything,” Dell said as the victims of the home invasion looked on.
Jonathan Dell (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
A second Philadelphia man, Jalen Douglas-Smith, 19, who Dell recruited to help with the home invasion, previously pleaded guilty to robbery, conspiracy and gun-related charges and was sentenced to what amounted to a 15-to-23-month time served sentence and five years of probation. Douglas-Smith, who didn’t know the victims, cooperated with prosecutors and testified against Dell during Dell’s trial.
A woman and her adult son were home at the time the two men, covering their faces with masks and brandishing guns, invaded the home. During Dell’s trial, both victims testified they feared for their lives.
Testimony revealed Dell grew up in the area, knew the family, and had been an invited guest in the home when he was a teenager.
Victim Impact
The female homeowner recalled the “traumatic day” as she provided a victim impact statement at Dell’s sentencing hearing. The woman said Dell stole happy memories associated with her home.
“We didn’t know you well, but you were a classmate of my children, a neighbor, and you had been in my home as a guest many years ago,” the woman addressed Dell directly. “You made tremendous errors in judgment, and you will be paying a hefty price. I hope you do some soul-searching and work toward rehabilitation so that when your sentence ends you can re-enter society, live an honest, law-abiding life and contribute in a positive way.”
The woman’s son added, “I will never remember my home the same.”
“Emotionally, seeing two masked men take over my house and threaten us with guns was terrifying. I had never seen a gun before in my life, let alone a gun pointed at me. I had never heard my mother cry like that. I had never seen her so frozen in fear that she was unable to talk, breathe or think in the 90 minutes that Jonathan Dell had control over her life,” the young man said. “Months after the robbery, I vividly remember the guns, the cry and the fear.”
Assistant District Attorney Kathleen Alane McLaughlin sought a lengthy prison term for Dell, including consecutive mandatory terms of 10-to-20 years on some of the charges that were allowable under so-called “second strike laws,” given that Dell had a previous conviction for a violent crime.
“I sought consecutive sentences because there were two victims in this case. He (Dell) has a history of violence that seems to be escalating. He is a danger to the community and the community will only be safe if he is incapacitated. He has a lack of care for others,” McLaughlin said. “The victims in the case will never be the same. They will never look at that house the same way. This event has changed them for the rest of their lives.”
Jonathan Dell is escorted by a deputy sheriff from a Montgomery County courtroom in May 2026 after a jury convicted him of charges he participated in gunpoint home invasion in Abington. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
Defense lawyer Prince Yakubu asked the judge not to impose consecutive prison terms against Dell and no more than one mandatory term of 10 to 20 years’ imprisonment.
“This is one act, one occurrence, one home invasion,” said Yakubu, who argued Dell had a dysfunctional upbringing and experienced trauma in his life.
During the trial, Yakubu argued there was reasonable doubt in the case and that prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to prove that Dell was in the home. Yakubu, who handled the case with co-defense lawyer Danielle Malafu, argued there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence presented by prosecutors to link Dell to the crime and that the investigation was lacking.
The Investigation
The investigation began about 3:15 p.m. Dec. 2 when Abington police responded to a report of a robbery at the Cedar Road residence. A woman told police that when she arrived home in her 2021 Subaru Ascent, she was approached by two males on her driveway who forced her into her home.
“Both males followed her inside and demanded cash and other valuables from (the victim),” Abington Detective Robert Hill Jr. wrote in the arrest affidavit.
The woman’s son, who was in an upstairs bedroom, heard his mother crying and went downstairs to check on her when he “was threatened by the males with bodily harm” as they demanded cash and valuables, detectives said.
“The male suspects remained inside of their home for approximately one hour as they walked into various areas of the home with both victims. The males ransacked each room and took cash and other valuables. During the time the males were inside of the home, they continued to point handguns at both victims and threatened both victims with harm if they did not cooperate or called the police,” Hill alleged.
The males took the victims’ cellphones and then used packing tape and a dog leash to restrain the victims before the intruders left the house, according to testimony.
The males took the keys to the woman’s Subaru vehicle and fled the area in that vehicle.
The victims were able to free themselves and ran to a nearby church to call the police. The victims reported jewelry, electronics, cash and sports memorabilia, valued at more than $2,000, were stolen from the home.
Jalen Douglas-Smith is escorted by sheriff’s deputies from a Montgomery County courtroom in May 2026 after he testified against his co-conspirator charged in Abington gunpoint home invasion. (Photo by Carl Hessler Jr. – MediaNews Group)
Detectives used a GPS tracker on the stolen vehicle as it traveled into Philadelphia, and it was eventually found unoccupied in a parking lot in the 4300 block of North Broad Street. Security video from a nearby store depicted two males parking the vehicle and walking away carrying a large bag of items, according to the criminal complaint.
The victims reported that unauthorized transactions were made with their stolen debit cards and Venmo app at locations in Philadelphia, including at a grocery mart.
Detectives retrieved video surveillance footage from the grocery mart that assisted them in identifying Douglas-Smith and Dell as suspects. Jurors also viewed images from video surveillance that depicted the two men walking in the Abington neighborhood toward the victims’ home around the time of the robbery.
Dell also posted a video to his Instagram social media account on Dec. 3 that showed him wearing a watch that was stolen from the Abington home.
During the investigation, detectives also determined that a fingerprint recovered from the passenger door of the victim’s stolen Subaru belonged to Douglas-Smith.