Ja’mari Alexander-Alan Jones. Photo by Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times (used with permission)
Ja’Mari Alexander-Alan Jones—the 19-year-old man suspected of shooting and killing DeShawn Milliken at a Bellevue bar Christmas Eve—pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges in King County Superior Court.
Milliken was active in the Central District as a mentor, and his death was “a blow not only to friends and family but to the whole community,” according to a memorial fund website set up for his family. He was 30.
Jones, who already has one murder on his record, is facing up to 28 years in prison, the Seattle Times reports.
Court documents reveal some details of what happened that sad and frightening night at Munchbar in Bellevue Square. Much of the incident was captured on video. From the probable cause document:
Honestly, please death lock up this sociopath and lose all keys.
I cant see how that fool is pleading not guilty….but in the end im praying justice is served for D Mill and his family….bottom line he took a good mans life and deserves to answer for that…..
Pleading “not guilty” is standard practice in order to proceed to trial. It doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t plead guilty to it later.
Why did Jones need to defend himself?
Well, hello babyface…
Does anybody want to know why he did it? Does it matter? Should we have a trial or just convict him by consensus before we hear the facts?
I want to know why a convicted felon was carrying a firearm, why he was carrying it in to a place that serves alcohol, and why he was admitted to a bar when he’s underage. Everyone involved in providing that gun to a felon, and allowing him in to that bar should be prosecuted also for the crimes they committed. To answer Grumbo’s question – I’d like to hear from the defendant why, after 1 murder conviction, he was carrying a gun? Guns are to kill people with. Hadn’t he had enough of that?
Either you believe in the justice system or you don’t. I want the facts to be presented and a fair trial conducted. Sure, it seems very likely that all our feelings about Jones are correct. Still, we either work within the system or eventually resort to lynchings.
By working within the system and paying attention to all the details we can learn to improve and teach others about the mistakes that lead to the death. People seem to consistently want to ignore aspects of the situation other than sensationalizing how somebody derserves to be punished. This pattern, while possibly irrelavent here, leads to the kind of kangaroo courts and railroad justice that put innocent people in prison and worse.
I would love to see him to to trial so the facts can be explored. He wont, though. He’ll enter in to a plea agreement.