This should have been preventable. What a tragedy. Very Sad.
Latoya Singleton did everything she could think of to escape an abusive relationship, but she knew she wouldn't make it, the women closest to her said Thursday.
On April 14, 2007, Jimmy Lee Jones broke into Ms. Singleton's home. When he left, she lay dead on the kitchen floor, their infant daughter by her side.
It took a Richmond County Superior Court jury a little more than an hour Thursday to find Mr. Jones guilty of murder and two weapon violations. He could be sentenced as soon as June 5.
"When you put a gun to someone's head ... there's no accident involved in any way, shape or form," District Attorney Ashley Wright told the jury in her closing argument.
In his account of what happened that night, Mr. Jones said he was only trying to console a crying woman by hugging her and pulling the trigger on the handgun to prove it was empty.
Medical evidence proved the gun was pressed to the back of Ms. Singleton's head when she was shot, Ms. Wright said.
When Ms. Singleton fell for Mr. Jones, she didn't know he had served five years in prison for wounding his common-law wife in 1996, shooting her three times, said Ms. Singleton's cousin, Sandra Williams.
His violent nature surfaced, however. The prosecutor introduced evidence that the sheriff's department had to intervene a half-dozen times in the months before the murder.
She broke up with Mr. Jones, changed the locks on her doors and the alarm security code. She stopped going out as much as possible and avoided the constantly ringing phone, her family said. But Ms. Singleton said she couldn't leave her home because she cared for three disabled women there, her cousins said.
When Ms. Singleton was eight months pregnant, Mr. Jones forced her into the trunk of her car and drove to Burke County, where he left her alone in some woods, her aunt Carrie Childs said.
"He told her she would be dead and stinking before anyone found her," she said.
Three weeks before she died, Ms. Singleton called her aunt, begging her to take baby Lejanea Carlysia if anything happened, Ms. Childs said.
"She said, 'Jimmy is going to kill me,' " she said.
Ms. Childs is rearing the baby now. Lejanea Carlysia is her blessing, she said.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
According to the latest information available, 127 domestic violence killings occurred in Georgia in 2005, and 1,181 took place throughout the country.
Victims of domestic violence can seek help locally by calling Safe Homes at (706) 736-2499; anyplace in Georgia at (800) 33-HAVEN (334-2836); and anyplace in the United States at (800) 799-SAFE.
Comments
This should have been preventable. What a tragedy. Very Sad.
Yes this was preventable...Those stupid pieces of paper carry no protection against these stalkers...They need to be placed under the jail and never let out again...These acts of terror should not be taken lightly as they often end in the woman's death and then the people of the justice system speak out and say "Oh what a shame"...The shame is that nothing was done to protect in the first place.
Just the fact that the police had to know he did this before and did nothing is the real shame. He had to be on parole, probation or something. He should have been locked away since the police had to intervene so many times. It's sad that you have to do a background check before you start dating someone these days.
Been there did that, you people sent me back home cause I had kids and you hung up on me. So I have been getting used to this life since and now I am not as abused cause I fight back!
This low life should not have a chance to walk this earth again, as a free person. Just from the newspaper accounts, you can almost feel the terror that this young lady was going through.
She should have had a gun...screw the legal system they are useless.......she should have turned the tables stalked and killed him. period
The family should be allowed to sue the justice system for allowing this girl to die like a dog at the hands of a "dog," whose rights the law protected, but not her right to live.
let's not judge latoya. being a domestic abuse victim is really scary and sometimes that scaredness is not enough to make you realize how to get out. she probably felt she had no where to escape to. let's just hope her death helped someone if not many strong enough to get away from those who are hurting them. i can relate to the terror she must have felt that night. he is pure evil and i hope he is dealt with accordingly.
I'm sure more strict gun control would've kept him from having a firearm. NOTE: Scarcasm.
This is a horrrible story...and take heed to what a previous blogger put on the comment line. Deborahelliot2 wrote that now she's not "as abused" because she fights back. How sad is it that someone is somewhat relieved because they are not "as abused" as they once were? Take it from me, get out now!! No amount of abuse is worth your or your family's life! The abusers life is a dead end anyway, thats why they are acting out...too insecure and insignificant so he lashes out at the one person he can control. A message to all, get out and leave your loser behind. God bless u all!
It's needle time.
lets see....hmmmmm he shoots his then common-law wife 3 times and is let out of jail...let me guess it was the system's fault, the "man" held him down so the "inner rage" brought on by the system caused him to turn to women to abuse...hey bleeding hearts out there have i got it close to being accurate???? this was no accident and there is nothing else that poor woman could have done other than move to an unknown location, then who knows he may have found her...here is an idea why not build bigger prisons and put them there for the rest of their lives the first time....bet he will appeal for a lighter sentence sometime in the future....any takers???
I wish she would've pressed charges against him for putting her in a car trunk when she was 8 months pregnant and leaving her. With this guy's past, he might've gotten locked up. The best thing for this situation would've been some big brothers to go visit this guy and show him what happens when you mistreat women. This definately didn't have to happen. Now this little girl has to live without her mother and hopefully she is so young that she won't remember anything about the murder.
good for the murderer....hope he rotts in jail and cries everyday...he has brought shame on his entire family I'm sure...
why was he not put away before now. Who found her in the trunk of the car and why was he not locked up than. Something doesnt sound right here. Why waste the tax dollars take him out back and shot him.
I think this could have been prevented. Im sure the cops were involved but this poor woman had to lose her life for them to do something. I afree with checkitout that he should have been put away before. And why wasn't something done when he forced this woman into the trunk of her car and left her in some woods? That doesn't sit right with me. Such a sad story.
It is not as easy as one might think to leave an abusive partner; if the abuser wants to continue their control over the victim, he will find her. They will quit their jobs for the hunt; and when the victim is found, the injuries are horrific and most of the times, result in death. Abusers have many characteristics; sometimes they are able to fool the neighbors, the congregation, coworkers, and the ilk, which is why we hear in many cases "I didn't know he was like that." It has been only in recent years that law enforcement has been empowered to help the victims, and even with this their efforts are not enough. When the victim in this case expressed her fears that the abuser was going to kill her, the law still says 'unless something happene, we cannot intervene.' That is not the fault of law enforcement, but it is the fault of poor legislation. I do agree that the death penalty in this case is justifiable. If any of you wish to do more for these victims, then contact your congressmen and ask for a tougher law and early intervention. Prayers should be said for the motherless child.
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