Man gets prison in fatal shooting over stolen property
Mario Corona recalled telling his 5-year-old nephew last year that his dad was in heaven with his mom.
It was heartbreaking.
Elias Corona had lost his mother to cancer two years earlier. Now, his father was gone, too.
“He loved his little boy so much,” Mario Corona said of his brother, Jaime Corona, during tearful courtroom testimony Thursday.
Mario Corona took the stand at the sentencing hearing for Jason Jones, 27, who, after a weeklong trial in January, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Jaime Corona.
After his uncle’s testimony, Elias watched District Judge Valerie Adair sentence Jones to 15 years to life in prison Thursday. Jones declined to speak.
On June 17, an ongoing argument between Jones and Jaime Corona ended when Jones shot him in the chest.
According to Las Vegas police, Jones accused Jaime Corona of burglarizing his apartment. The two neighbors had worked out a settlement in which Jaime Corona would return the property and pay $100 for the damage done during the burglary.
Jaime Corona paid $50 and returned only some of the property, according to a police report.
Jones confronted Corona several times over the money and missing property.
On the night of the shooting, Jones banged on Corona’s apartment door demanding the money and property before he fired the fatal shot through a screen door.
Police arrested Jones four days later.
On Thursday, Mario Corona said he knows his brother made some mistakes, but he would never take somebody’s breath away.
“What makes me happy is (Jones) will go to jail,” Mario Corona said.
Deputy Special Public Defender Charles Cano said he plans to appeal the verdict.
Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@review journal.com or 702-380-1039.
