It actually is more expensive to put someone on the death penalty: http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42

How about this: If the case is cut and dried and the perpetrator is guilty beyond reasonable doubt (as in this case) and the judge can give him the death penalty,

can you, as a surviving member of his family, given the chance, pull the trigger on the murderer as his sentence?

I don't believe the State has the right to take anyone's life (guilty or otherwise) but the family should be able to exact justice


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Wow, 15 yrs for shooting a 21 unarmed individual. He even admits to it....The judge should be shot for giving out such a light sentence. Anything but the death penalty for this murderer is an injustice. Happy to know my tax dollars are going to feed this murderer and pay for this idiotic judge's salary. And before anyone comments, I know the death penalty is not an option in NJ

Jersey City man sentenced to 15 years in fatal shooting of Newark man

By Daniel Reyes/The Jersey Journal
March 21, 2013 at 5:33 PM

A Jersey City man was sentenced to 15 years in prison at an emotional hearing today for fatally shooting a Newark man who was "running for his life" in 2011.

Rondell Jones, 23, was sentenced by Hudson County Superior Court Judge John Young for killing Eric Thomas, 21, after a party in Jersey City on March 5, 2011.

At his plea hearing in January, Jones admitted that even though a dispute at a party between he and Thomas had been settled, he fatally shot Thomas several times in the back as Thomas ran from him.

Jones admits that the shooting was not in self-defense.

Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Aaron Silverstein told the court that Thomas was able to make it a few blocks away, before he collapsed and died.

In January, Jones pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated manslaughter in exchange for an expected 15-year sentence.

At the sentencing, Thomas' family members wept as they told the judge about the impact of Thomas' murder.

"That was the hardest day of my life and I will never forget it," said Shaquanda Clark, the mother of Thomas' daughter, now 4.

"My family has a lot of pain right now," said Natalie Williams, his sister. "We will never be able to have him back again. ... 15 years is not enough time for a murderer."

Jones' attorney, Christopher Kazlau, told the judge that his client accepted full responsibility for his actions.

Thomas' mother, Victoria Thomas, told Jones that he was not a man for what he did, and that her son did not deserve what happened to him. She said that one day she may forgive him, "But right now I don't."

Jones declined to say anything before sentencing.

Young told Jones, prior to handing down the sentence, that he had "no idea what could have gone through your head (at the time). ... You're out there just running wild on the streets of Jersey City," said Young. "This is a civilized society sir, people don't run around and shoot people for literally no reason."

Under the terms of the sentencing, Jones will have to serve at least 85 percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _to_1_3.html#incart_river

The murderer should be sent to Saudi Arabia

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Very few inmates serve their full sentence, many get out early for a variety of reasons, one is that it is too expensive to keep them locked up for the full sentence.

WHY ONLY 15 YEARS FOR THIS ANIMAL? HE WILL KILL AGAIN!

Jersey City man pleads guilty to aggravated manslaughter in 2011 killing

By Sarah Nathan/ The Jersey Journal
January 02, 2013 at 4:52 PM

A Jersey City man charged with the 2011 murder of a Newark man pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter this afternoon.

Rondell Jones, 23, appeared before Judge John Young in Hudson County Superior Court Wednesday. He stood straight alongside his attorney, Chris Kazlau, and answered the judge's questions clearly and without emotion.

Aggravated manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in state prison. Jones also pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm, a sentence that would likely run concurrently with the aggravated manslaughter count. Jones is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 28 at 1:30 p.m.

Jones was originally charged with murder, but the offense was reduced as part of the plea deal, officials said.

Jones' mother sat in the back of the nearly empty courtroom and began to weep quietly, holding a tissue to her face, as Young explained every detail of the plea deal to Jones.

Jones was charged with fatally shooting Eric Thomas of Newark several times in the back after they had a dispute at a house party in Jersey City in March 2011. Jones fled after the shooting, but he was arrested several days later attempting to dispose of the semi-automatic pistol used to shoot Thomas.

When asked by Kazlau, Jones admitted that he fired several shots as Thomas was turning to walk away from him and that he did not shoot Thomas in an act of self-defense.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _with_2.html#incart_river

Jersey City murder suspect is seized after building on Belmont Avenue is put under surveillance

Wednesday, March 09, 2011
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The man charged with murdering a Newark man outside a Jersey City party early Saturday was snared by U.S. marshals yesterday as he tried to escape through a window, officials said.

Rondell Jones, 21, of Lexington Avenue, is charged with shooting Eric Thomas, 21, multiple times in the back at about 1 a.m. on Bergen Avenue near Communipaw Avenue in Jersey City.

By the time Jones appeared in Central Judicial Processing court later in the day, he had been stripped of his belt and shoelaces and had to hold up his pants with his hands, which had been cuffed behind his back.

Members of the U.S. Marshals New York/New Jersey Fugitive Task Force were doing surveillance at a residence on Belmont Avenue yesterday when they entered at 9:55 a.m. and Jones was grabbed by a Hudson County sheriff's officer assigned to the task force, officials said.

Jones was turned over to the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office's Homicide Unit and processed by the Hudson County Sheriff's Office, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said.

Detectives say Jones and the victim got into an argument at the party pertaining to personal matters and they took the argument outside, where it allegedly escalated to homicidal violence, DeFazio said.

"You have young men getting involved in disputes and resorting to semiautomatic pistols. It is completely uncalled for," DeFazio observed. "It is very difficult to fathom why we have to escalate to this extraordinary level of violence."

Jones was released from state prison on parole on Jan. 24, and the New Jersey Department of Corrections had issued a warrant for his arrest on violation of parole, officials said, adding that he had served time for firearms and drug offenses.

Homicide detectives believe a semiautomatic 9mm handgun recovered in an alleyway on Lexington Avenue was the murder weapon. But ballistic tests have to be conducted to confirm this, DeFazio said.

Christopher Bradley was charged with disposing of the gun and he appeared in Central Judicial Processing court Monday on the charge of hindering the investigation and unlawful possession of the handgun, officials said.

Jones is being held on a bail of $500,000 cash only and the case will now be investigated further for presentation to a grand jury, officials said.

Rondell Jones was caught yesterday!

View Larger Map ====================================== Early Saturday, Eric Thomas, 21, of Newark, was shot several times in his back after he left a house party on Bergen Avenue in Jersey City. Rondell Jones, 21, of Jersey City, has been charged in that murder and multiple agencies are searching for him, according to the prosecutor. The two shootings are not related, DeFazio said. ================================== Jersey City man who hid semiautomatic pistol after killing outside party has been arrested, officials say; manhunt continues for alleged shooter Tuesday, March 08, 2011 By CHARLES HACK JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Police have arrested a Jersey City man they say played a role in trying to hide the semiautomatic pistol that was used in Saturday's fatal shooting of a 21-year-old Newark man, officials said. At about 1 a.m. Saturday, Eric Thomas, of Newark, was gunned down as he left a house party on Bergen Avenue near Communipaw Avenue in Jersey City. There is now a multiple-agency manhunt for his suspected killer, Rondell Jones, a 21-year-old Jersey City parolee, officials said. On Sunday, authorities arrested Christopher Bradley, 21, of Bergen Avenue, who is accused of throwing the 9mm semiautomatic handgun that was used in the slaying into an alleyway on Lexington Avenue, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said yesterday. Bradley is charged with hindering the apprehension of Jones and unlawful possession of the weapon used in the killing, said DeFazio, who declined to provide details of Bradley's arrest. Bradley is not charged as an accomplice to the shooting because investigators believe he received the gun after the shooting, the prosecutor said. The gun was found in the alleyway and several spent shell casings were recovered from the scene of the shooting, DeFazio said. Investigators believe this gun is the murder weapon but further ballistic tests will be performed to confirm that, according to the prosecutor. Thomas and Jones were both at a house party when Thomas had a dispute with a man that spilled onto the street, DeFazio said. Jones - who witnesses say was a friend of the individual that Thomas had the dispute with - produced a semiautomatic pistol and shot the unarmed victim several times in his back, DeFazio said. Thomas, whose wounds included a severed spinal cord and damage to the lung, was found unconscious at Communipaw Avenue and Sackett Street and was taken to Jersey City Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the prosecutor said. Anybody with information about the whereabouts of Jones should call the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Unit confidential tip line at (201) 915-1345.
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