Stephanie Jones is a killer from Illinois who was convicted of the murder of her eight year old son Navin Jones
According to court documents authorities had removed Navin Jones from the home after the little boy had tested positive for narcotics. Navin Jones would end up in his grandmother’s custody however when she had to go to Florida to handle a family emergency gave temporary custody to Stephanie Jones and Brandon Walker. However when she returned from Florida Jones and Walker refused to give the boy back to the Grandmother
Illinois Department of Children and Family Services had tried to get in contact with Stephanie Jones and Brandon Walker who went out of their way to avoid them. When authorities finally went to the home they would find eight year old dead in the home. Navin Jones would weigh only thirty pounds at his death. Authorities believed that the little boy had been severely abused for the six months leading up to his death. Authorities would also find Navin Jones room covered in urine and feces with a sign on the door that read “Do not give Navin any food or drink. Do not let him out of the room. He has what he needs until I wake up.”
Stephanie Jones and Brandon Walker would be arrested. Stephanie would be convicted and Brandon Walker trial is due to start soon
Stephanie Jones Case
Stephanie Jones, 37, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder on Thursday in the 2022 death of her 8-year-old son Navin Jones.
Jones will be sentenced on Feb. 7.
Brandon Walker, the father of Navin Jones, is scheduled to begin a jury trial in his first-degree murder case on Dec. 11.
Who is Navin Jones?
Navin Jones was found dead on March 29, 2022. He was 8 years old and showed signs of serious neglect and abuse.
Navin weighed just 30 pounds when he died. The boy’s bedroom was strewn with feces and urine, and the child had just one toy in there with him. A rope was tied to the bedroom door, used to keep Navin shut inside.
A note left on the door read, “Do not give Navin any food or drink. Do not let him out of the room. He has what he needs until I wake up.”
Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos said the parents’ actions were “brutal and heinous indicative of wanton cruelty” when they were charged with murder in April 2022.
Navin Jones spent the last six months of his life “beaten,” “tortured,” “imprisoned,” and “starved,” prosecutors said.
The Department of Children and Family Services had a long history of dealing with Navin Jones’ family. At birth, Navin tested positive for narcotics and was taken into state custody. Later, his grandmother would become his legal guardian.
But for months prior to his death, the DCFS had struggled to make contact with Navin and his parents. His grandmother, too, could not get the parents to return him to her custody after she went to Florida to handle a family emergency.
https://news.yahoo.com/mother-navin-jones-pleads-guilty-171159558.html
Stephanie Jones News
Authorities in Peoria, Illinois have announced first-degree murder charges against the parents of an 8-year-old boy who weighed just 30 pounds at the time he stopped breathing.
Peoria Police Department said in a press release on the case that the investigation began on Tuesday, March 29, when the victim, identified as Navin Jones, was found “unresponsive and […] not breathing.” The child, who who was considered to be in critical condition, died thereafter at the hospital.
In an update Wednesday, authorities said that Navin’s parents were identified as suspects in abuse that resulted in the 8-year-old boy’s death. Police said that the Peoria County Coroner found that the preliminary cause of Navin’s death was physical abuse and neglect.
WHOI reported that the coroner said Navin was bruised and malnourished to the point that he only weighed 30 pounds at age 8.
The probable cause affidavit reportedly said that Stephanie Jones put the victim in a shower downstairs to “warm him” after finding the victim in a bathtub upstairs.
According to the Peoria Journal Star, prosecutors believe the defendants neglected the victim from Nov. 2, 2021 until his death. Prosecutors said the victim’s bedroom smelled of feces and even had ropes inside to keep the bedroom door and closet door shut.
Peoria County records show that Stephanie Jones (Stephanie Lynn Jones, DOB 10/21/1986) has had numerous run-ins with the law beginning in 2007 and continuing in 2008, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2022. Most of the charges listed are holds for other agencies.
Jail records said Stephanie Jones remains held on a first-degree murder charge.
Peoria County records show that Brandon Walker (Brandon R. Walker, DOB 12/5/1981) has a similarly lengthy rap sheet dating back to 2002 and continuing in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2022. Those cases involved anything from failures to appear, various traffic infractions, domestic battery, and ordinance violations.
Walker also remains held on a first-degree murder charge.
Despite all of this, and despite the fact the parents were known to the Department of Children and Family Services, the Journal Star reported, the victim left his grandmother’s custody and went back to live with his parents in the fall of 2021, which lines up with the timeline of alleged neglect.
Assistant State’s Attorney Dave Kenny said that there was also another boy in the home: Navin’s 12-year-old brother. According to the report, the prosecutor said that the parents said they didn’t enroll the kids in school because they “weren’t the legal guardians,” and didn’t get the victim help for malnourishment because “they weren’t the legal guardians, and therefore weren’t sure if they could get him medical attention.”
The surviving sibling is now in the custody of the Department of Children and Family Services, the report said.
