Click for printable version
Click to send to a friend

Murder suspect Daniel Jones, seen Friday, is accused of killing his brother. A jury began deliberating his fate late Monday and is expected to resume deliberations this morning. Photo by Gary Thompson.

Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SIBLING'S DEATH: Brother's murder case goes to jury

Stabbing was accidental, man cooperated with police inquiry, defense attorneys say

A prosecutor said Monday that murder defendant Daniel Jones may be a sympathetic figure, but that does not abdicate him from responsibility in the stabbing death of his brother.

"Yes, this is a tragedy," Clark County Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said. "Yes, there's sympathy. But the fact of the matter is he plunged a knife into his brother's chest."

During closing arguments in the murder trial of Jones, 23, DiGiacomo and fellow prosecutor Bernie Zadrowski urged a jury to convict Jones of either first- or second-degree murder in the killing of Steven Jones, a stabbing Daniel Jones and his attorneys have said was an accident.

"The defendant was the one who did it," Zadrowski told the jury. "This was not an accident. Someone has to be held responsible."

After Zadrowski concluded his remarks, a jury began deliberating the case. They were sent home at 5 p.m. by District Judge John McGroarty, and they are expected to resume their deliberations early this morning.

When they do, they will have to decide whether to exonerate Daniel Jones or to convict him of one of the following charges: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter or voluntary manslaughter.

The charges stem from an argument between the siblings at Daniel Jones' condominium in April 2001.

The brothers' girlfriends have testified that the argument started when Steven Jones refused to give Daniel Jones a ride to cash his paycheck though Steven Jones, 20, had wrecked his brother's car.

Daniel Jones' girlfriend at the time, Dana Ainslie, said she saw Steven Jones start walking toward his brother and heard him say, "This was a long time coming." She interpreted the remark to mean that Steven Jones was about to beat up his older brother.

The argument continued into the kitchen, where Daniel Jones picked up a knife.

Ainslie said she heard Steven Jones say, "What are you going to do, stab me?"

"No," she said Daniel Jones responded. "Just get out."

Ainslie testified she did not see what happened next, but Steven Jones' girlfriend, Katie Lamb, has testified that she saw Daniel Jones stab his brother in the heart.

Daniel Jones took the witness stand Friday and said he did not mean to kill his brother. He said the wound occurred when he stumbled over an open dishwasher door, causing him to collide with his brother.

"I don't remember putting the knife into Steven," Daniel Jones said.

Defense attorney Jennifer Bolton told the jury in her closing argument Monday that Daniel Jones should be acquitted of all charges. She said she did not think the case was one of manslaughter.

She said Daniel Jones' actions after the stabbing, including his cooperation with police, showed he did not mean to kill his brother.

"This was not a fight," she said. "It was a verbal argument that ended in an accident."