That's a scary thought! But if they can't get a conviction he would walk anyway. At least this way if something comes to light in the future, they could take it to trial.
Seems far fetched, but in some of these cold cases thirty years later they nab the original suspect.
May 9, 2014It’s heartbreaking that this case remains unresolved. That said, I think there’s more to her assault and murder than just the neighbor boy. I don’t think it will ever be known. McKenzie’s father died last year (age 61). One of the brothers is a habitual felon (currently in prison). The whole thing about the brothers having a party while this poor child was relegated to sleeping on the couch the night it happened just makes me cringe. RIP sweet girl. I’m so sorry this happened to you.
ETA: This and the Faith Hedgepeth murders remaining unsolved drives me crazy.
May 9, 2014
"Jones was living with his grandfather in a house very close to the Sesssoms’ home at the time, but had since moved to adjoining Franklin County to live with his mother. Armed with DNA evidence, that is where the Sheriff’s office arrested him this week."
"The Sampson County sheriff said they have DNA evidence linking Jones to the crime. It's evidence his family plans to fight as he heads to arraignment."
"Eight months later, the Sampson County Sheriff's Office arrested Antonio Trey Jones, who lived nearby, citing DNA evidence and exhaustive interviews."
"Authorities said they arrested the suspect after using DNA evidence to match him to the crime."
Now SEVEN YEARS LATER..... Oh, boy, really?
June 8, 2021
"District Attorney Ernie Lee said Tuesday that the case against Jones had fallen apart. DNA actually didn't implicate Jones in the murder, Lee said, and a judge said Jones' statement to investigators couldn't be used as evidence at trial."
Is this a joke?
Here are some questions the Starke Family and Jones Family should be asking the Sampson County Sheriffs Department and the District Attorney's Office. Hopefully, friends and relatives of these two families should contact them and find out.
1. When was Antonio Jones actually cleared by DNA he was no longer a suspect?
7 years ago, 6 years ago, 5 years ago, etc...?
2. It took eight months to accuse Mr. Jones, but it took seven years to clear him. WHY SO LONG?
3. Was Antonio Jones a victim of "magic DNA"? Accused one minute and then not implicated the next.
4. Once Mr. Jones was named a suspect through a negative DNA match, did the sheriff's department stop looking for other suspects for seven years? If so why?
5. Since the investigation of Mr. Jones fell apart fast than a house of card, how exactly did break into the Sessoms' home during a party without being seen? The front door was locked so did he stroll past 13 people on a small back porch and no one saw him. Is he a Ninja?
6. With this self incriminating statement by the DA and the sheriffs dept. concerning Mr. Jones accused by DNA and cleared by DNA in seven years, how does this affect current Sampson County sexual assault cases with DNA samples taken during the investigations? Who do you believe?
7. Since DNA cleared Mr. Jones in this case, who out of the 15 people at the Sessoms party that night is responsible for McKenzie's death?
8. What is so significant in this "mystery party attendee" that cause an investigation to stall for seven years? Why are 14 people covering for this man?
Yes, they had the wrong guy all along.It's been a while since I've followed this case. What do you all think, did they have the wrong guy?
LE either botched the investigation or they are hiding something. I read the coroner's autopsy investigation in this case and the DA and Thornton's narrative never fit. The death occurred between midnight and 4:30 am. Who would commit a rape in murder in the living room with the father and brother in the next rooms?Updated with video Seven years after Sampson girl's death, charges dropped against lone suspect :: WRAL.com
There is no one else linked to this case.
My opinion is they did not have enough or adequate DNA to link him and the confession was tossed because of no Miranda rights.
You do not keep someone on house arrest for 7 years unless you strongly think he is guilty.
This will not be the last time we hear about him imo.
Agree, Boodles -- I think more happened that night than we will ever know -- and, cynically speaking, I guess we are better off not knowing if things there were worse. SMH. I do hope someone in that town is not willing to let this horror go unsolved, but again, no bets. Also hoping that whoever did bad things to that promising, sweet young girl, is having, and forever will have, a hard time sleeping at night.
What else is there to say but just dammit.
Hey Otto,Did I understand correctly that she was placed in this home with a few teenage boys shortly before she died, and there was no parental supervision? Now it's uncertain whether any of those boys was involved - while three of them were on the deck partying when it happened?
521 Hairr Lane
View attachment 347416
The house looks big enough for 12 partying people, including 3 on the deck. Were there 12 people partying or 12 people on the property?
View attachment 347417
I'm not familiar with this, trying to get up to speed.
Hi Boodles,Like someone said above, it’s a tiny little town and everyone’s related. Meth is rampant there. Sorry to say, but from what I’ve researched, it’s a cesspool of a place. Of course there are good people, but I think Sampson County does it’s fair share of keeping the jails & prisons in business.
I called the sheriffs office a few weeks after this happened. The “detective” in charge of the case was out that week, there was no one else to talk to. He was either on vacay or in “training.” I remember thinking that where I work, when something big hits the fan, everything else, including vacations and training, fall by the wayside.
All I could think of was what a bunch of corrupt, ineffective bunch of losers, probably covering for their cousin’s wife’s ex-husband’s son, or some such twisted scenario.
I wouldn’t trust anyone there with anything.
It makes me sick what happened to this child, removed from a meth-head home into another home where at least one resident had been rumored to have done multiple, but one really bad, deed.
“Partying“ with a 12 year old girl sleeping on the couch amidst a bunch of drunk guys, on a school night, no less? This child didn’t even have a private bedroom in a house full of men.
I suspect a certain person, but have no evidence except local gossip and a crime record which includes assault of a woman, AWDW, among many other things. I hope karma takes care of the who committed these acts (and who worked the system to point toward someone else who was a convenient scapegoat).
JMO, MOO, and all that. I hope that DA, sheriff and any other complicit characters get what they deserve In the end, along with the rapist murderer of that poor child. But then, I’m just rehashing things I’ve said over the past many years about this case.
Did I understand correctly that she was placed in this home with a few teenage boys shortly before she died, and there was no parental supervision? Now it's uncertain whether any of those boys was involved - while three of them were on the deck partying when it happened?
521 Hairr Lane
View attachment 347416
The house looks big enough for 12 partying people, including 3 on the deck. Were there 12 people partying or 12 people on the property?
View attachment 347417
I'm not familiar with this, trying to get up to speed.
Why use the word "partying" for three individuals?