A teenage girl who ran away from a group home to be with an older man is facing charges for allegedly bludgeoning the man’s mother to death with a rock after giving him an ultimatum to kill her himself.
Kaitlyn Coones, 17, from Cleveland, Ohio, gave her boyfriend Jonathan Jones, 33, a deadline of five hours to carry out the murder of his mother Nicole Jones, 53, earlier this year, prosecutors say.
“Kaitlyn had told Jonathan, that they needed to do something about his mother because she was preventing them from being together and she gave him five hours to do something about her, and at one point in the interview, she even mentioned killing her,” Detective Jake Albright with Sylvania Township Police said in court on Friday.
But when Jones failed to do it, Ms Coones allegedly gave him an extra hour before taking matters into her own hands.
“She went outside and retrieved a rock and when Nicole Jones was standing in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen, unaware of Kaitlyn’s presence, bludgeoned Nicole Jones a number of times and strangled her,” Lucas County Prosecutor Andy Lastra told the court.
Jonathan Jones— (Cochise County Sheriff’s Office)
A judge ruled on Friday that Ms Coones would be certified as an adult in the case. She is charged with aggravated murder, murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.
Jones, who had previously been convicted over his relationship with underage Ms Coones, was allegedly sitting in the living room while the brutal killing took place.
In August, Jones was charged with aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse, according to court records.
Just days earlier, Ms Coones was reported missing by Stark County Children Services after she ran away from a group home.
Kaitlyn Coones— (Cleveland Division of Police Second District Community Relations Committee)
The Canton Police then contacted the Sylvania Township Police to check the safety of Nicole Jones. They informed the department that the teen had allegedly sent a text message to a group home nurse saying she killed two people and she was on the run.
At some point, Ms Coones was picked up at a restaurant by Jones, who took her back to the home he shared with his mother. She was forced to crawl through a window so his mother would not know she was there.
Prosecutors allege Ms Coones gave Jones the ultimatum to kill his mother because she felt she was interfering in their “relationship.”
In court on Friday, Detective Albright testified that after the brutal slaying, Ms Coones and Jones drove to a local store and bought a tarp and trash bags.
They then wrapped the body of Nicole Jones and drove it to a nearby apartment complex, where they put it in a dumpster that was ultimately taken to landfill. Police do not believe the body will ever be recovered.
Nicole Jones— (ABC13)
In May, Ms Coones and Jones fled to Mexico where they were arrested. They later gave detailed statements and admitted to killing Nicole Jones during an interview with FBI agents, ABC13 reported.
The details in the interviews matched GPS information that was tracked to Jones’s phone to the dumpster where the body was dumped and the stores where the supplies were purchased.
Coones’ attorney Ann Baronas argued in court Friday that the teen is a victim of Jones who was not supposed to have any contact with her. She also argued that investigators don’t know who sent the text message about the teen allegedly admitting to two murders.
