Kathy E <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: After two hours of deliberations that began on late Friday, Reco Jones was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder in the brutal slayings of his ex-girlfriend Yolanda Bellamy, her two sons, and her niece and nephew. Jones' conviction did not come as a surprise, especially after his bizarre behavior during his testimony last Thursday where he openly argued with his attorneys and alluded to "script" he followed when he gave his account of the murders. Prosecutors claimed that Jones, 23, killed Bellamy in a rage after she told him that she was pregnant and refused to have his baby because he was not a "real man." Jones then killed Bellamy's sons, Nathan Burns, Jr. and Nathan, III, and Bellamy's niece and nephew, Shafontah and Delvontay, when they walked in on the altercation between him and Bellamy. The young victims were no older than five years old. Jones's defense said that police arrested the wrong person and claimed that Maliaka Martin, one of Jones's ex-girlfriends and a sexual rival of Bellamy, killed the five victims. Reco Jones was unemotional as the sentence was read. Although there was high tension between relatives of Jones and Bellamy during the trial, the court remained silent once the verdict was announced. Jones could face life in prison when Judge Kym Worthy sentences him on April 17. Notes from jury and attorney interviews, Reco is lucky that MI does not have the DP, the jury when asked said if they had the DP they would vote for him to get it without a moment's hesitation. Reco's attorney said his biggest problem was trying to overcome the evidence in the case. As it was discussed on CTV and something I agree with, Reco would have been better off to strike a plea instead of going to trial, yet he wanted to go to trial thinking he might be able to lay the blame elsewhere. Now he found out he was wrong. -- Kathy E "I can only please one person a day, today is NOT your day, and tomorrow isn't looking too good for you either" http://members.delphi.com/kathylaw/ Law & Issues Mailing List http://pw1.netcom.com/~kathye/rodeo.html - Cowboy Histories http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/2990/law.htm Crime photo's Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
