“I have never been in any type of trouble in my entire life,” Jones writes in the letter. “Judge Overstreet, I am trully (sic) sorry for what happened, what happened was wrong and senseless. That young man didn’t deserve to die or get robbed. Those was never my intensions (sic).”
PANAMA CITY — The man who last month pleaded guilty to principal to robbery with a deadly weapon in exchange for his testimony against the alleged shooter of 16-year-old Jason Ian Price is asking the court for leniency ahead of his scheduled sentencing hearing.
In a letter sent to Judge Michael Overstreet and filed with the Bay County clerk of court on March 8, Rodney Jones, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, called his involvement in the homicide a “huge mistake” and says he “wasn’t aware” the charges he admitted to carried “so much time.” Jones is facing up to 20 years in prison as part of his plea agreement.
“I have never been in any type of trouble in my entire life,” Jones writes in the letter. “Judge Overstreet, I am trully (sic) sorry for what happened, what happened was wrong and senseless. That young man didn’t deserve to die or get robbed. Those was never my intensions (sic).”
Jones asks for mercy several times in the two-page, handwritten letter, saying that, if given the opportunity, he would like to enroll in college or join the military to make a difference in society, possibly by helping establish programs for youth offenders to lead them on a “road to success instead, as myself, to regretfullness felt from the heart.”
In sworn testimony given to the State Attorney’s Office as part of the case, Jones said he, his two co-defendants Demarcus Giddens and Gertavious Canada, and several others made the four-hour drive to Panama City Beach from Auburn, Ala., last August with no particular plan in mind or any hotel room booked. After spending some time at the beach, Jones said the group met a group of Arnold High School students at the Taco Bell on the intersection of U.S. 98 and Thomas Drive. Jones said he asked the group if he could buy some marijuana, and one of them made a call. As the group walked across Wildwood Road to the nearby CVS, Jones said Giddens hatched the plan to rob the students.
According to that testimony, Jones was around the side of the CVS “scaling up” or weighing some marijuana when he heard a scuffle and saw Giddens confront Price — who had arrived at the CVS moments before — with a firearm, putting the gun to his chest and pulling the trigger. At the sound of the gunshot, Jones said he panicked and punched the male who delivered the marijuana, stealing his watch and his phone before fleeing with Giddens.
Jones also said in his testimony that he knew Giddens had the firearm, believed to be a Draco AK-47 pistol, in his backpack during the trip.
Jones has a sentencing hearing set for April 2. All three men will be in court for pretrial on May 7.