WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — A Westmoreland County judge ruled that a man will remain in jail as he waits for a new trial in the 1993 fire that killed his family.
On Wednesday, a common pleas judge denied James Young’s request to be released on bail, the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office says.
A jury convicted Young of three counts of homicide in 1995, two years after a fire on 14th Street in Jeannette took the lives of his wife and two children.
In March 2025, Young’s conviction was overturned, and he was granted a new trial due to modern fire standards being introduced.
Young argues that the conviction for arson 30 years ago was based on outdated fire science, but the DA’s office argues that circumstantial evidence and eyewitness accounts point to the fire being intentionally set.
The judge also denied Young’s motion based on Rule 600 and his right to a speedy trial, the DA’s office says.
A new trial date has yet to be scheduled.
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