Man accused of taking his daughter from mother skips hearing

A Pittsburgh man accused of failing to return his 4-month-old daughter to her mother in Erie and fleeing Erie with the child in late July is heading to trial after officials said he failed to appear in court for his preliminary hearing on Wednesday morning.

Officials said Justin J. Jefferson, 31, was at the Erie County Courthouse Wednesday morning prior to the start of his scheduled hearing in Central Court, but left before the case was called before North East District Judge Scott Hammer, who was filling in for Erie 5th Ward District Judge Paul Bizzarro. The hearing was scheduled to start at 10 a.m., but wasn't called until after 11 a.m. because of other scheduled hearings in Central Court.

Hammer held Jefferson for court on all charges in absentia. A lawyer for Jefferson was not listed on his criminal docket sheet.

Jefferson faces a felony count of endangering the welfare of a child and misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering and terroristic threats that Erie police filed following an incident in the city on July 29. Police accuse Jefferson of taking the child when he was reportedly supposed to drop the child off with the child's mother, and driving with the child to Pittsburgh.

What police say happened in the case

Authorities began a detailed search for the child, and the Pennsylvania State Police issued a Missing Endangered Person Advisory on the child, after the mother reported the incident.

Investigators said they were told the child was supposed to return to her mother on July 29 after Jefferson had her the previous day, but after arriving in Erie Jefferson reportedly got into an argument with the woman and she said she stood in front of Jefferson's vehicle to prevent him from leaving.

Jefferson reportedly had the 4-month-old on his lap as he attempted to drive away, and he threatened to crash the vehicle if the mother did not get out of his way, investigators wrote in Jefferson's criminal complaint. The mother reportedly followed Jefferson in another vehicle, telling police Jefferson drove over 100 mph as he tried to elude her, according to information in the complaint.

Jefferson and the child eventually ended up in Pittsburgh. A public information officer for the City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety told the Erie Times-News in an emailed response two days after Jefferson's arrest that, after arriving in Pittsburgh, Jefferson called Pittsburgh police and said he understood the child's mother had reported she was kidnapped, and he asked police to respond to an address in Pittsburgh to confirm the child was safe.

Pittsburgh police contacted Erie police to confirm there was a warrant for Jefferson's arrest, and Jefferson was transported to the Allegheny County Jail, the spokeswoman wrote in the email.

The child was placed in the care of a family member until the child's mother could pick her up, according to the email.

Jefferson was brought back to Erie and was arraigned on the charges on July 30. He was released on unsecured bond following his arraignment.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com . Follow him on X @ETNhahn .

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Man accused of taking his daughter from mother skips hearing