Jonathan Jones was arrested on Tuesday as an alleged accomplice in the murder of Belle Glade grocery store owner Jimmy McMillan, as an "accessory after the fact."
At 20 years old, this is now the second time Jones has been booked into the Palm Beach County Jail in relation to a murder.
In October 2010, Jones was arrested on one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder in a drive-by shooting, and his alleged accomplice in that case was also arrested on the same charges some time later.
But Jones walked away from those charges, and the Palm Beach County Jail, early last year.
According to Sarah Alsofrom from the Palm Beach State Attorney's Office, the witness who fingered Jones in the case was done giving information after Jones was indicted.
"The witness was locked up on contempt charges because of his refusal to cooperate," Alsofrom says. "The witness continued to refuse to cooperate, thus, the case had to be abandoned."
Now Jones is back in the Palm Beach County Jail, being held without bond on charges of being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, tampering with
evidence, tampering with a witness, and possession of a weapon by a
"previously adjudicated delinquent."
According to a probable-cause affidavit, Corey Graham Jr. went into McMillan's Alabama Georgia Grocery Store in Belle Glade with a gun and demanded money around 6:30 a.m. on January 2.
McMillan complied with Graham's requests, but police say Graham shot and killed him anyway.
Jones
was captured on the store's surveillance video about eight minutes
before McMillan was killed, but denied involvement in the shooting when
questioned by detectives.
On Saturday, Graham was arrested and
charged with first-degree murder, but he denied knowing anyone by the
name of Jonathan Jones.
On Monday, however, detectives went to Graham's mother's house to interview her about threats she's been getting at her house.
She told detectives she'd found a gun in Graham's bedroom two days after
the murder, although police note that the description of the gun came
from anonymous tips.
Graham's mom took the gun from his room, and
when Graham discovered it was missing, he told his mother to give it
back because it belonged to Jones. Graham's mother noted that the boys
had been "homeboys" since grade school.
In addition to reporting the gun situation and alleged threats against her from Jones, Graham's mother also told the cops she believed Jones "has committed
several shootings and a murder in Belle Glade," although police didn't
expand on that.
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