Pubdate: Fri, 21 Apr 2006
Source: Kansas City Star (MO)
Copyright: 2006 The Kansas City Star
Contact:  http://www.kcstar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/221
Author: Diane Carroll
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

JURY DECLINES TO ENDORSE ENHANCED PENALTY

Jones' Mom: Meth Ruined Our Son

Diana Jones didn't want to take the witness stand.

Defense attorney Carl Cornwell said he had to talk her into it.

But once the mother of the man convicted Wednesday of killing Good 
Samaritan Jonathan U promised to tell the truth on Thursday, she told it all:

How she and his father had sat Brad Joseph Jones down his senior year 
in high school when she suspected he had started using 
methamphetamine and told him it was wrong. How her son lost his 
chance to be a major-league baseball player because he got hooked on 
the drug. How he stooped to stealing purses to support his habit. How 
his family loved him through it all.

"We begged him to stop," Diana Jones told the Johnson County District 
Court jury that had convicted her son the day before.

"Did he?" Cornwell asked.

"No."

On Wednesday, the jury found the 27-year-old Gardner man guilty of 
first-degree murder in the death of U, 29, of Shawnee. U died June 8 
after trying to stop Jones from stealing a woman's purse in Olathe. 
Jones faces a life sentence on that conviction with no chance of 
parole for 20 years.

The jury returned Thursday because Assistant District Attorney Rick 
Guinn wanted jurors to give the judge permission to impose stiffer 
sentences than state guidelines recommend on four other felonies to 
which Jones had pleaded guilty. Guinn contended that the sentences 
should be boosted because Jones preyed on older women and was not a 
good candidate for parole or probation.

The jury deliberated more than two hours but could not reach a 
unanimous decision. That means the judge will not have that permission.

District Judge John Anderson III scheduled sentencing for May 31.

Guinn said he and the U family were satisfied with the outcome. Jones 
probably will serve 25 to 30 years before being eligible for parole, he said.

Besides the life sentence, Jones faces up to 10 years in prison for 
two counts of robbery, one count of theft and one count of fleeing 
law enforcement officers. Two of those charges related to the May 20 
purse-snatching that U had tried to stop. The two others related to a 
purse-snatching that Jones had done the day before.

Diana Jones' emotional testimony left many in the courtroom, 
including some jurors, fighting to hold back tears. Afterward, Dennis 
Jones said he thought the Lord gave his son the sentence that the 
Lord wanted to give him.

He was not proud of what his son had done, he said, but "I've never 
stopped loving him."

Guinn said the case was tragic for everyone involved.

However, Guinn said, "It doesn't matter who you are." Anyone who 
commits a crime like U's murder is "going to suffer stiff 
consequences, at least in this county," he said.

Jones was found guilty in two purse-snatchings in 2001. The court 
sent him to a boot camp and placed him in a residential corrections 
program that allowed him to be out in the community to go to work. 
His probation was revoked after he stole $210 worth of meat in June 
2002 from a Price Chopper in Gardner.

Jones was sent to prison. He was paroled May 12, 2005. On May 19, he 
snatched a purse outside an Overland Park store from a 68-year-old woman.

The next day, Jones stole 59-year-old Ruth Peck's purse outside a 
Target at 119th Street and Strang Line Road in Olathe. U, who was in 
the parking lot, heard Peck's screams and ran after Jones. By the 
time he got there, Jones was in a car in the driver's seat.

U lunged across Jones to retrieve the purse, which lay on the 
passenger seat. Jones put U into a headlock, according to testimony, 
and took off at high speed. U was half in and half out of the car 
when it crashed into a PetsMart wall. U was pinned between the car 
and the wall.

The U family released a statement Thursday. They said they were 
thankful that "a dangerous person will not be able to prey on others" 
for quite some time, and also saddened that Jones' actions had 
permanently scarred the lives of many people.

"We are grateful and thankful to the community for all of its support 
during the past year," the statement said. "We hope that Jon's 
bravery and his selfless actions will be a shining beacon to us all 
and a model for how we all need to support one another."

Stephanie U was pregnant when U died. Their daughter is now 8 months old.

Guinn said the U family would have more to say about U on May 31, 
when Jones is sentenced. They plan to view the day as a celebration 
of U's life, he said.

First Glance

Johnson County prosecutors wanted the jury that had convicted Brad 
Joseph Jones of murder to let the judge impose stiffer sentences than 
usual for four other felonies. Their inability to agree means Jones 
will probably have to serve 25 to 30 years before being eligible for parole.
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