A Michigan man who set fire to a Bensalem house to target his ex’s new boyfriend is sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison

A Michigan man who drove across the country to set fire to a Bensalem family’s home in a targeted attack on a romantic rival was sentenced Thursday to 20 to 40 years in prison.

Harrison Jones, 22, pleaded no contest to six counts of attempted murder and two counts of animal cruelty for the killing of the family’s two dogs, which perished in the blaze. He also pleaded guilty to a slew of related crimes in connection with the February 2025 incident.

Bucks County prosecutors said Jones drove more than 700 miles from his native Rockford, Mich., that winter to set the blaze at the home of Alex Zalenski, a man Jones’ ex-girlfriend and high school sweetheart had recently begun a long-distance relationship with.

Zalenski, along with his father, mother, sister, and grandparents, was sleeping when Jones broke in and set off an incendiary device in the living room and kitchen around 5 a.m. Their dogs, Jett and Trey, barked, waking up the family, who all managed to escape.

Members of the Zalenski family suffered non-life-threatening burns and injuries, though in court they recounted traumatic memories that they said would not soon heal.

Alex Zalenski’s sister, Ava, recalled being awakened to the sound of yelling and heavy smoke clouding her room, choking her airways.

“My dad told me to get down to breathe,” she said. “At age 20, I was ready to accept death.”

The family had just minutes to escape the blaze, which consumed the property and left them without a home.

Andrew Zalenski, the father of Alex and Ava Zalenski, recalled telling them to crawl on the floor to avoid inhaling smoke.

He forced them out of a window before going to look for his wife, Stacy, he said, but could not find her and fled.

It was challenging to describe the feeling of watching your home ablaze “believing your wife is burning to death inside,” he tearfully recounted.

Stacy Zalenski had been trying, unsuccessfully, to save the dogs. The woman, who is battling breast and lung cancer, ultimately jumped from a second-floor window to survive.

Andrew Zalenski suffered from severe smoke inhalation and was put in an induced coma in the hospital, he said.

Meanwhile, Alex Zalenski — the young man whose relationship with Jones’ ex had enraged the Michigan man — said the attack “shredded any normalcy I had.”

He had to withdraw from college after the incident, he said, and has since had trouble sleeping.

“It felt as if my entire world had been set ablaze,” he told the court.

Jones, wearing a yellow prison jumpsuit and shoulder-length hair, showed little emotion during the Zalenski family’s remarks.

Given the opportunity to speak, however, Jones took full responsibility for the crime.

“I need to take accountability,” Jones said, his voice breaking. “I’m guilty — I’ve done what I’ve done.”

Jones’ family, including his father, mother, sister, stepfather, stepmother, and stepbrother, were in the gallery behind him.

Jones’ attorney, Paul Lang, said Jones had no previous criminal record and had suffered physical abuse growing up. To cope, he had turned to abusing Xanax and marijuana, Lang said.

Jones, for his part, alluded to being under the influence of drugs during the attack.

In addition to sentencing Jones to decades in prison, Bucks County Court Judge Matthew D. Weintraub ordered him to pay more than $500,000 in restitution to the Zalenski family.

Weintraub told the Zalenskis that the trauma of the attack had clearly bonded their family.

Addressing Jones, the judge said he believed the young man had attempted to “effectuate maximum damage” that day.