← Remembering Christian Rojas

Christian Rojas Case Timeline

A dated record of the case, using court records and news coverage. Where sources disagree, we say so. The records behind each entry are listed on the sources page.

Late August 2005

Christian Rojas, 28, is killed in his apartment in Bensalem, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Coverage gives the date as August 24 or August 25.

September 1-2, 2005

Heather Lavelle and James Savage are arrested in Nags Head, North Carolina, after a high-speed police chase. Reports differ on whether the day was September 1 or 2.

June 2006

Savage and Lavelle each plead guilty to first-degree murder in Bucks County, before Judge Rea Boylan. Both had faced a possible death sentence.

June 19, 2006

James Savage is sentenced to life imprisonment.

June 2006

Heather Lavelle is sentenced to life in prison without parole.

May 1, 2012

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court denies Lavelle's appeal.

May 5, 2014

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issues its decision in Lavelle v. Giroux, No. 13-4773.

October 6, 2014

The U.S. Supreme Court denies Lavelle's petition for review, No. 14-5610.

December 19, 2014

A talk by Lavelle titled "Working Toward Redemption" is published from the TEDxMuncyStatePrison 2014 event.

August 2, 2019

A post titled "Working Toward Redemption" appears under Lavelle's byline on the Right to Redemption website.

June 22, 2020

The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirms the denial of James Savage's petition for post-conviction relief as untimely.

September 1, 2021

Friends Journal publishes Lavelle's essay "Prison as Exile." It does not name Christian Rojas.

November 23, 2024

Entertainment media again retells the case. This site's view is that doing so is tasteless and re-victimizes Christian's family and loved ones.