Aaron Jones was sentenced to death by the State of Pennsylvania for the murder of Brian Kennedy
According to court documents Aaron Jones was a leader of the gang Junior Black Mafia and would murder Brian Kennedy in order to protect his drug territory
Aaron Jones would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Aaron Jones Photos
Aaron Jones Now
Parole Number: 5249O
Age: 61
Date of Birth: 12/07/1961
Race/Ethnicity: BLACK
Height: 6′ 00″
Gender: MALE
Citizenship: USA
Complexion: LIGHT
Current Location: PHOENIX
Permanent Location: PHOENIX
Committing County: PHILADELPHIA
Aaron Jones Case
On January 19, 1993, appellant was convicted of first degree murder and criminal conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the August 18, 1990, shooting death of Brian Kennedy. Following a penalty hearing, the jury determined that the one aggravating circumstance it unanimously found outweighed the one mitigating circumstance it found and returned a verdict of death on the murder charge.1
The facts underlying appellant’s conviction were set forth at length in this Court’s opinion on direct appeal. See Commonwealth v. Jones, 542 Pa. 464, 668 A.2d 491 (1995). In brief, the trial evidence showed that appellant was the leader of the “Junior Black Mafia” (JBM), an organization which distributed drugs within Philadelphia. Appellant orchestrated the murder of Brian Kennedy in order to avenge the death of Leroy Davis, another high-ranking member of the JBM, who was believed by the organization to have been murdered by Brian Thornton. However, Thornton was incarcerated when appellant planned his revenge. Thus, appellant and his co-defendants decided to “hit” Thornton’s cousin, Kennedy, in order to avenge Davis’ death and to send a message to Thornton that killing a fellow JBM member would not go unpunished. Appellant facilitated Kennedy’s murder by inter alia: instructing his co-defendants on where and how to murder Kennedy, arranging for the car that was used in the murder, and supplying funds to help his co-defendants abscond after the murder
