Kaitlyn Coones and Jonathon Jones murdered Jones’ mother, Nicole Jones, authorities said. (Image of Coones: U.S. Marshals; mug shot of defendant Jones: Ohio Department of Corrections)
An 18-year-old woman in Ohio and her 33-year-old boyfriend may spend the remainder of their days behind bars for killing the boyfriend’s mother after the teen gave the older man “an ultimatum” to get rid of the victim for interfering in their relationship.
Lucas County Common Pleas Court Judge Gary G. Cook on Tuesday ordered Kaitlyn Coones and Jonathon Jones to 25 years to life in a state correctional facility for the vicious 2023 slaying of 53-year-old Nicole Jones, who was bludgeoned with a rock and strangled to death, authorities announced.
Coones and Jonathon Jones both reached deals with prosecutors and agreed to plead no contest to one count each of aggravated and one count each of abuse of a corpse in Nicole Jones’ death. In exchange for their pleas, prosecutors dropped several other charges the duo had been facing.
“This was a horrific event,” Lucas County Prosecutor Julia R. Bates said in a statement following the proceeding. “We are relieved to reach a resolution in this case. We hope this brings some measure of peace to Nicole Jones’ family. May her memory forever live in their hearts.”
According to a report from Toledo ABC and CW affiliate WTVG, Coones in 2023 was a 17-year-old who ran away from her foster home and was staying at the Jones’ home without Nicole Jones knowing.
Prosecutors say that Coones grew increasingly frustrated because she believed Nicole Jones was interfering in her relationship with Jonathon Jones, so she gave him “an ultimatum” requiring him to kill his mother within five hours. When Jonathon did not go through with her demand, she gave him a four-hour extension to kill him mother, before taking matters into her own hands.
Authorities testified that Jonathon Jones picked up Coones at a local restaurant and brought her to the home where he lived with his mother so the teen could kill his mother.
“(Coones) went outside retrieved a rock and when Nicole Jones was standing in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen, unaware of (Coones’) presence bludgeoned Nicole Jones a number of times and strangled her,” Assistant Prosecutor Andy Lastra said during an earlier proceeding, according to Cleveland CBS affiliate WOIO.
After the murder, the couple went to the store where they purchased cleaning supples and a tarp, which they used to wrap the body before tossing it into the dumpster of an apartment complex.
“In their recorded interviews both defendants detailed wrapping the body of Nicole Jones and tarps and placing her in the trunk of her own vehicle. The two of them had to dinner with the body of Nicole Jones still in the truck of the vehicle,” Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Liptack-Wilson reportedly said during the hearing.
Coones and Jonathon Jones then fled to Mexico where they were taken into custody following an international search that lasted several weeks. The body of Nicole Jones has never been discovered.
Nicole Jones’ estate is also suing Coones and Jonathon Jones for wrongful death and seeking at least $25,000 in damages.
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