Jury finds man guilty in 2019 death of Tarentum woman

A jury found a man guilty of third-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the 2019 death of a 54-year-old woman.

The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office made the announcement Wednesday. Juan Hayden, 55 at the time of the killing on Aug. 30, 2019, was accused of beating, strangling and stabbing 54-year-old Susan Jeffries in her Tarentum home.

Jeffries was found by officers on the kitchen floor with a stab wound and a bruised neck. She died at the hospital that night just before 11 p.m.

The district attorney said Hayden was also accused of hiding the knife he used to stab Jeffries in the chest. Hayden also allegedly gave officers shifting stories about Jeffries’ death before eventually admitting to stabbing her.

Jeffries is survived by her two children.

“Any homicide case is a tragedy because there is a loss of a life involved,” said District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. in a news release. “As for the case of Ms. Jeffries, we are very pleased with this outcome and believe justice was served.”

Hayden lived several blocks from Jeffries’ home. After the stabbing, Hayden called 911 at about 9:30 p.m. from what he said was the victim’s cellphone.

Hayden was at Jeffries’ apartment when police arrived. A criminal complaint said he first told officers he wasn’t inside the apartment when Jeffries was stabbed.

The complaint said Hayden told police that Jeffries

left the apartment and returned with a man. Hayden then told police he went to Jeffries’ apartment and found her on the ground with a stab wound. He also said he went to apply pressure on the wound and Jeffries scratched him.

Police then challenged Hayden’s claims, telling him that when he called 911 he indicated he was inside the apartment when the stabbing happened.

According to the criminal complaint, Hayden then told police Jeffries “had come at him” because he questioned her about having another man in her apartment. He also stated he was holding a dinner plate in one hand and a knife in the other when he stabbed her.

Hayden is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 16, 2024.