An Ohio teen is accused of murdering her 33-year-old boyfriend’s mother after giving him an ultimatum to kill the Toledo woman and then fled with him to Mexico, authorities say.
On Friday, a judge ruled that Kaitlyn Coones, 17, of Canton, will be tried as an adult in the murder of Nicole Jones, 53. She is charged with aggravated murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse.
Coones was “bound over to the grand jury for further proceedings” on Friday, the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office told PEOPLE.
Coones went missing on April 11 from the foster home where she was living and moved in with Jonathan Jones, who had been convicted in March because of his relationship with her when she was 15, ABC 13, News 19 and the Sentinel-Tribune report.
“Kaitlyn had told Jonathan that they needed to do something about his mother because she was preventing them from being together and she gave him five hours to do something about her, and at one point in the interview, she even mentioned killing her,” Sylvania Township Police Department Detective Jake Albright said, News 19 reports.
After Coones moved in with Jonathan, she allegedly told him to kill his mother because she thought the woman disapproved of her and was interfering in their relationship, authorities said, News 19 reports.
When Jonathan allegedly failed to kill his mother, Coones decided to murder the woman herself, prosecutors claim.
Coones “went outside and retrieved a rock,” Lucas County Prosecutor Andy Lastra alleged, News 19 reports.
“When Nicole Jones was standing in front of the refrigerator in the kitchen, unaware of Kaitlyn’s presence, she bludgeoned Nicole Jones a number of times and strangled her,” Lastra said, News 19 reports.
Jonathan was allegedly sitting in the living room when Coones killed his mother, prosecutors said, ABC 13 reports.
Jonathan helped Coones allegedly dispose of his mother’s body by throwing the corpse into a dumpster at an apartment complex that was then taken to a landfill, ABC 13 reports.
Coones and Jonathan then fled to Mexico, according to the U.S. Marshal Service.
During the trip to Mexico, Coones allegedly confessed to killing Nicole, Patty Wardrop, an assistant prosecuting attorney on the case, told ABC 13.
“While she’s on the road, she calls a case worker to inform that she has done something terrible," Wardrop claimed, ABC 13 reports.
Authorities immediately went to Nicole's home. “What they find matches almost exactly what she has explained as the crime as it occurred," Wardrop told ABC 13.
On May 8, the U.S. Marshals Service Missing Child Unit apprehended Jonathan in Mexico.
Jonathan reportedly failed to disarm the GPS tracking device he was wearing after his conviction in March, which helped authorities find him, News 19 reports. Coones was with him.
In March, Jonathan pleaded guilty to endangering children and attempting to commit pandering obscenity involving a minor,
Wood County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Morgan Spitler claimed Jonathan had sex with a minor at a Super 8 motel when she was 15 or 16 and in the custody of child services and was accused of taking pictures of them having sex, which he planned to pander, the Sentinel-Tribune reports.
Jonathan is also facing charges in connection with his mother’s murder.
It is unclear whether he has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf. Coones’s attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Originally Posted by bowieluva
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