LANCASTER, Pa. — A Lancaster man will serve up to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to beating another man to death in the city in September 2021, the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office said Friday.
Aaron Robertson, 34, of the 100 block of Pearl Street, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and aggravated assault charges in connection to the death of 36-year-old Brandon Schweers, who died of injuries sustained in an assault on Sept. 1, 2021.
Police said Schweers was assaulted around 7 a.m. that morning on the 500 block of Pearl Street. Schweers told arriving officers that his body hurt all over, and that he had been pepper sprayed and was having difficulty breathing.
He identified Robertson as the man who assaulted him, police said.
The officers noted Schweers was suffering from head injuries. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment, but succumbed to his injuries shortly thereafter.
Robertson later told police that he and Schweers had engaged in an argument that turned physical. He admitted to pepper spraying Schweers in the eyes before striking him multiple times.
He was initially charged with aggravated assault and simple assault and arrested. Prosecutors later added a third-degree homicide charge after an autopsy by the Lancaster County Coroner's Office determined that the cause Schweers’ death was multiple traumatic injuries and that the manner of death was homicide.
Robertson pleaded guilty to the homicide and aggravated assault charges on Monday in a hearing before Lancaster County Judge Jeffrey Wright, who ordered a sentence of six to 12 years in prison.
Assistant District Attorneys Benjamin Baker and Amy Muller prosecuted the case.
