Pubdate: Fri, 28 Dec 2001
Source: Clarion-Ledger, The (MS)
Copyright: 2001 The Clarion-Ledger
Contact: http://www.clarionledger.com/about/letters.html
Website: http://www.clarionledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/805
Author: Jimmie Gates

YOUNG OFFICER SHOT DEAD ON DRUG RAID CALLED HERO

Ron Jones Was Son Of Prentiss Police Chief

PRENTISS - Police Officer Ron Jones devoted himself to stopping the 
flow of drugs in this city of about 1,500 people where his father is 
police chief, the city's mayor said Thursday.

That devotion led to his shooting death about midnight Wednesday 
while attempting to serve a warrant.

"We're deeply saddened," Mayor Charley Dumas said. "This is a small 
community. I have known Ron all my life."

Jones, 29, the son of Police Chief Ronald Jones, was shot once in the 
abdomen while he and members of a south Mississippi drug task force 
were serving a search warrant seeking drugs at a duplex less than a 
mile from the police department.

"Ron is a hero," Jefferson Davis County Sheriff Henry McCullum said. 
"He was very committed and dedicated to serving and protecting the 
citizens of this county.

"We all are very sad and our sympathy goes out to the Prentiss Police 
Department and Chief Jones and his family," McCullum said.

Cory Maye, 21, one of three people at the duplex at 1728 Mary St. at 
the time of the shooting, is charged with capital murder in the 
officer's death.

Jones was wearing a bulletproof vest, but a small-caliber bullet 
struck him in the abdomen, just below the vest, Dumas said, citing 
information from the coroner.

Police Chief Jones and his family were distraught over the younger 
Jones' death, Dumas said.

Dumas, who spoke on behalf of the Jones family, said he was not sure 
how the shooting unfolded, but was told that officers first tried to 
enter the duplex from the front. He said they then apparently went to 
the back.

After the officers announced their presence, Jones was the first of 
about eight officers to enter the duplex, Dumas said.

Gunfire erupted between Maye and the officers, and Ron Jones was hit, 
authorities said. He died while being rushed to the hospital in a 
police car, authorities said.

The two other people in the duplex, one a juvenile, were taken into 
custody, but later were let go. Their names were not released.

No charges had been filed against them as of Thursday, McCullum said.

Maye was the only one of the three shooting, McCullum said.

No drugs were found at the yellow duplex, which authorities said Maye 
rented. The duplex, adorned with a Christmas wreath on the door, 
Christmas lights and a small bike on the porch, was cordoned off by 
police tape.

Jones was a K-9 officer on the city force of five full-time officers.

Fellow officers wore black tape across their badges in memory of 
their fallen comrade. Also, the community mourned the four-year 
officer's death.

"It's upsetting to everyone," said Louise Horning, who knew Jones and 
lived across the street from the duplex where the officer was shot.

"He was a nice, sweet officer who was trying so hard to do away with 
drugs in this area," Horning said.

Candice Thomas, an employee of Palace Discount Drugstore, said she 
was shocked when she heard what happened to Ron Jones.

"It was awful," Thomas said. "They (law enforcement officers) have a 
bad job, but somebody has to do it. He loved his job."

Maye made an initial court appearance in Jefferson Davis County 
Justice Court Thursday afternoon. Justice Court Judge Jerry Dyess 
ordered Maye held without bond and set a preliminary hearing for Jan. 
24.

Dyess also appointed attorney Robert Evans of Monticello to represent 
Maye, who is being held in the Forrest Court Jail.

McCullum said he requested that Maye be held in the Forrest County 
Jail because it is more secure than his jail and would be better for 
Maye's own protection. Earlier this month, three accused murderers 
escaped from the Jefferson Davis County Jail.

McCullum said, based on his research, Maye has no felony convictions, 
only traffic violations.

The district attorney's office and the Mississippi Highway Safety 
Patrol are investigating the shooting.

Services were incomplete late Thursday for Ron Jones, who is survived 
by his parents and a twin brother.
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