for BigTrial.net
Derrick Jones, the 21-year-old suspect that police say got on SEPTA buses and trains in the past two weeks and randomly hunted down and executed three passengers, should have been in jail rather than out on a killing spree.
That's because when Jones was arrested as an adult on Jan. 14, 2019, and was hit with three gun charges, he was already on probation as a juvenile after he had twice entered the equivalent of a guilty finding in two previous felony cases.
But as what typically happens under District Attorney Larry Krasner, Jones, a suspect with a criminal record who was facing a gun charge, pleaded guilty in a negotiated plea bargain with the D.A.'s office and got a sweetheart deal, a sentence of 11 1/2 to 23 months in jail, plus two years probation.
Jones wound up serving only 11 1/2 months in jail before he was released on house arrest. A seasoned prosecutor who reviewed Jones's record, however, said that under state sentencing guidelines promulgated by the state legislature, Jones, because he was a previous offender on probation, should have gotten a sentence of a minimum of three to six years in jail.
Instead, the seasoned prosecutor said, Jones got a generous plea bargain that the D.A.'s office, under Larry Krasner, routinely gives out in 95% of cases when somebody with a previous criminal record is charged with a gun crime.
"This why the state legislature is investigating whether the D.A. has committed a dereliction of duty" as possible grounds for impeachment, said the seasoned prosecutor who requested anonymity. "Larry Krasner refuses to enforce the law. This is exactly what the state Legislature is talking about when it comes to the D.A. failing to enforce the gun laws already on the books."
The plea bargain that Jones got from Larry Krasner's office is "so far outside the sentencing guidelines that you've obliterated the guidelines," the seasoned prosecutor said. And when a dangerous criminal is given a light sentence, you're always taking the chance that he will go out and commit more crimes, and victimize more people.
The three SEPTA murders, the seasoned prosecutor said, are the "logical result of Krasner's policies."
And, according to the police, there may be more victims as they continue to investigate Jones as a possible serial killer.
The police found in Jones's home a 45 caliber Glock 21 pistol with an extended magazine and 31 live rounds, plus an additional 76 live rounds.
In ballistics tests, the gun found with Jones matched the bullets and casings recovered from two crime scenes where Jones had allegedly killed three young men, Captain Smith said.
The police also recovered from the apartment "clothing believed to have been worn by Jones during the commission of the murders," Captain Smith said. A police source said that clothing included a lime green vest typically worn by highway construction crews.
Police charged Jones with three counts of first-degree murder.
"The motive is unknown," Smith said. "That is the burning question. Why why did Mr. Jones murder in cold blood three males?"
"Why he marked them is anyone's guess," Smith said. "This is a total random act of violence. We may never get to the bottom of it and find out why."
Jones, who had four prior arrests, two as a juvenile, and two as an adult, was currently on probation from his 2019 plea bargain as an adult where he pleaded guilty to gun charges.
The suspect," Smith said, who lived with his grandmother and a younger sister, "refused to provide a statement."
At 10 p.m. on June 28th, police said, Jones got on a SEPTA bus and got off at Broad and Cheltenham. He proceeded to run up behind Zamir Syrus, 20, another passenger on the same bus who had gotten off at the previous stop, and allegedly shot him several times in the chest and neck.
Syrus, who was packing a 9 mm gun that he never got a chance to use, was transported to Einstein Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police, Captain Smith said, recovered six 45 caliber fired casings from the crime scene.
Nine days later, at approximately 10:30 p.m. on July 7th, Jones, again riding a SEPTA bus, got off in West Oak Lane and shot Tyheim Tucker, 21, and his neighbor, Justin Smith, 20, multiple times in the chest and torso.
Police said the shootings took place on the 1900 block of 68th Avenue, just a block from both victims' homes in West Oak Lane. Both victims, whom police said were coming home from work, were pronounced dead at the scene. Neither victim had a criminal record.
Police said that once again Jones had boarded a Route 6 SEPTA bus, the same bus as his victims. Tucker and Smith got off at 68th and Ogontz. Jones got off one step later, at Ogontz and Haines, and then, according to police, he stalked and murdered his victims.
Police recovered 13 spent 45 caliber cartridges from the crime scene.
"There weren't any signs or precursors to these random acts," Captain Smith said. "Why Mr. Jones chose these three individuals is really the burning question."
Smith said a SWAT team was urgently searching for Jones because only nine days had elapsed between the three murders. The amount of ammunition captured with the suspect, Smith said, credibly fueled suspicions that Jones was out to kill more people.
Asked if it was possible if Jones had previously committed other murders, Captain Smith, "We're certainly just looking into that possibility."
Asked if police were dealing with a serial killer, Smith said it was a possibility. He added that Jones already fit the FBI's technical definition of a serial killer, which is somebody who murders two or more victims.
Jones's arrest record begins on March 23, 2017 when, at 16, he was hit with 28 different charges, including multiple counts of robbery, conspiracy, aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, and harassment.
On March 23, 2018, the D.A.'s office withdrew 26 of the 28 charges. Jones was found to be an adjudicated delinquent, the equivalent of guilty, on two first-degree felony charges, conspiracy and aggravated assault.
On April 11, 2018, when he was 17, Jones was arrested again and charged with manufacture, delivery or possession of drugs with intent to manufacture and deliver, a felony, and intentional possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.
In court on Jan. 14, 2019, when he was 18, Jones was found to be an adjudicated delinquent on the felony drug charge, and the D.A.'s office withdrew the misdemeanor drug charge.
He was also charged with two felonies, possession of a prohibited firearm, and firearms not to be carried without a license, plus a misdemeanor charge of carrying firearms in public.
On Sept. 24, 2019, before Judge Mia Roberts Perez, in a negotiated guilty plea for both adult arrests, Jones pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, possession of a prohibited firearm, and firearms not to be carried without a license.
He was sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in jail and two years probation.
As part of the plea bargain, the D.A.'s office dropped the charges of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and carrying firearms in public.
The plea bargain also called for Jones to get immediate parole after he had served 11 1/2 months, when he was released from county custody under the terms of house arrest.
On April 17, 2020, Judge Sierra Thomas Street denied a defense motion for immediate parole because of the Covid pandemic. On Nov. 19, 2020 Judge Perez approved a defense motion to modify the terms of Jones's house arrest to allow him to go to work.
The story of Jones's murder spree comes at a bad time for Larry Krasner.
Earlier this week, the state House of Representatives appointed a five-member select committee to address the "skyrocketing crime rates in Philadelphia" as part of an inquiry into the possible impeachment of D.A. Krasner.
Memo to the select committee -- time to open a file on Derrick Jones.
Jones's case is additional proof that Larry Krasner is lying when he frequently denies that people arrested for illegally carrying guns have a habit of going out and and committing more crimes.
For example, in a Sept. 30, 2021 news story, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Krasner's faithful apologist, stated that Krasner's office "has long contended that there’s little evidence to suggest people who are arrested in Philadelphia for nonviolent gun offenses go on to commit shootings and homicides."
Larry Krasner, what do you have to say about Derrick Jones?
As usual, Krasner, who has stonewalled Big Trial for three years, did not respond to a request for comment.