Mother Sees Son Murdered on FaceTime Call

A 19-year-old, Jonathon Xavier Jones, who had previously escaped from a juvenile detention center in Missouri, is now facing charges of murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon. These charges are related to the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Jadun M. Byrd. Jones, who was 17 at the time of the incident, has been certified to stand trial as an adult. He was already in custody on unrelated charges and remains detained.

The fatal shooting occurred on March 2, 2022, on Whittier Street in St. Louis. Police responded to a shooting report and found the victim in a parking lot, suffering from gunshot wounds. He later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. A witness reported seeing a white Dodge Journey in the vicinity, which drove towards the victim before someone from the driver’s side began shooting.

The victim’s mother, Leslie Byrd, was on a FaceTime call with her son when the incident occurred. She reported hearing gunshots and seeing her son fall to the ground. Leslie Byrd told local media that her son was visiting her at work that morning. She recounted hearing someone say, “They just shot that boy up,” and then saw her son’s head roll and his hands curl up after someone accidentally kicked the phone. She added that the assailants did not rob her son; they merely shot him and drove away.

Investigators were able to link Jones to the crime through surveillance footage that showed the Dodge Journey circling the area where the victim lived and following him. The footage also showed a man, later identified as Jones, entering the vehicle and driving away approximately 30 minutes before the murder. He was seen returning with the vehicle and exiting from the driver’s side 30 minutes after the incident. The vehicle was later found with the suspect’s fingerprints on the driver’s side.

A search of Jones’ residence revealed multiple firearms, one of which matched the ballistic evidence found at the crime scene. Authorities also noted that Jones’ phone was switched to “Airplane Mode” shortly before and after the homicide.

At the time of the shooting, Jones was a fugitive, having escaped from a juvenile detention center where he was facing charges in a separate homicide case. Jones, along with two others, is accused of killing a 29-year-old man in September 2021. He and another teenager escaped from the juvenile detention facility the following month. The trials for the 2021 homicide and the escape case are still pending.