On Monday evening, members of the Shinnecock Indian Nation gathered around the flagpole on the Southampton reservation for a solemn affair. With a candle light vigil, the crowd united to honor the short life of 16-month-old Roy Antonio Jones, III, who had died the previous day, Sunday, August 1, allegedly at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend, Pedro Jones.
Above: Pedro Jones mug shot.
“It is a great tragedy,” Beverly Jensen, spokeswoman for the Shinnecock Indian Nation, remarked. “We are not only mourning for the baby, but we lost a tribal elder on the same day,” she added, noting that longtime Shinecock leader Betty Bell Cromwell had died at the age of 85.
According to New York State Police, their agency received a 911 call on Sunday at around 8:25 p.m. reporting a child in cardiac arrest at a home on Old Point Road East on the Shinnecock Reservation. The toddler was transported to Southampton Hospital by ambulance and was pronounced dead by 9:11 p.m.
It is unknown at this time who placed the 911 call, but police revealed that the infant was being babysat by Jones at the time of the incident. Jones, 20, had started a relationship with the mother in April and was living in Southampton, though he had previously been living in Huntington Station. Though Jones and the mother, Vanessa Jones, shared a last name officials maintain he wasn’t related to the mother or the child.
According to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota’s spokesman Robert Clifford, court documents state that Jones caused the death of the infant “by striking him several times throughout his body with his closed fists and grabbing him by the neck.” During an initial police investigation, Jones reportedly told investigators, “I was trying to make him act like a boy instead of a little girl.” Clifford was careful to note that the case remains open and an exact cause of death has yet to be determined.
After his arrest, Jones was arraigned early Monday morning at Southampton Town Justice Court on charges of manslaughter in the first degree, a felony. State police say additional charges could be forthcoming, or the current charges upgraded, depending on the results from the investigation. At his first arraignment, Jones pled not guilty to manslaughter in the first degree. According to a determination by Justice Edward Burke, Sr., Jones will be held without bail. Clifford added that a grand jury will now review the evidence, listen to testimony and make a verdict on indicting Jones.
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Life in prison WITHOUT parole.
Don’t even start with how he was raised – I don’t care – no matter his upbringing he no longer can be trusted in society and we should never be put at risk by allowing this lowlife a second chance.
Throw away the key.
How does a grown man who punches an infant with closed fists get a MANSLAUGHTER charge? That is murder, plain and simple.
Manslaughter? No. Murder. A 16 month old child doesn’t need to be taught how to “act like a boy instead of a little girl” not only that, but a grown man putting his hands on a child, of ANY age knows that they can’t fight back. This disgrace deserves to be put behind bars for life and suffer for what he did to this poor little boy and his family.
This is disgusting. This is murder of a child, he is guilty. Plain and simple.
…we held a vigil today…a candle light vigil that have honored those lost to voilence….i was given Roy Antonio Jones the 3rd’s name….i pray for this young child…and that of his killer. Hate doesn’t beget hate,…..this man will get his due here on earth and in the after life if he doesn’t repent.