Aiyana Jones
The father of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones was found guilty by a Wayne County Circuit Court jury of second-degree murder Thursday in the death of a 17-year-old high school student.
The father, Charles Jones, 28, was accused of giving Chauncey Owens, 37, a gun to kill Je'Rean Blake outside a party store in Detroit in May 2010, Alisha Anderson of the Detroit Free Press reported. Authorities say it was like “him giving a match to an arsonist holding a can of gasoline.”
The Freep reported that a separate jury on Friday found Owens guilty of first-degree murder, felony firearm and felon in possession of a firearm.
Jones was found guilty of perjury, but not guilty of possession of a firearm by a felon and felony firearm.
Leon Weiss, Jones' attorney, said he found the verdict confusing since the jury convicted his client of giving the gun to Owens.
“It’s a very confusing verdict,” Weiss said, according to the Freep. “The theory of the prosecution is that my client possessed the gun, gave the guns to Mr. Owens, who used it in the killing.”
Aiyana Jones was killed sleeping on a couch during a police raid. A TV camera went along for the raid. A cop, Joseph Weekley, was charged with manslaughter and careless discharge of a weapon.
The jury deadlocked at the first trial and a mistrial was declared. Weekley faces a retrial.
