An appeal of his murder conviction by DeAndre Jones Jr. of Baltimore, Maryland, has been quietly making its way through the state appellate court system.
Jones was found guilty last August of second degree murder, robbery, and conspiracy to robbery in the brutal sword-stabbing death of Tyron Howard at Howard’s apartment in Blarisville in September of 2014. Jones was one of four defendants…Michael Eades Jr. was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Stanley Boynton and Kevin King plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for their testimony at the trial of Eades, who police said was the ringleader in the slaying, which they said was tied to a drug distribution operation Eades was operating in Indiana County. At trial, Eades managed to beat a charge of first degree murder at trial and was convicted only of involuntary manslaughter.
Jones, who is now 33 years old, received the mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole. He filed his appeal with Superior Court in March and later that month was given a new attorney after Indiana attorney Gary Knaresboro withdrew from the case. His new attorney, Beth Tibbott of Pittsburgh, was granted an extension of time last month to file a brief in the appeal. It’s now due July 6th.
