Ryan Jeremy JonesThe Catoosa County Sheriff's Office arrested a man Thursday on charges that he failed to report a death quickly enough.
According to an incident report, Ryan Jeremy Jones told an investigator Wednesday that when he arrived home, he found his friend dead. Jones said his friend had called him earlier and asked for a ride to East Brainerd. Jones told the friend to meet him at his house at Pine Grove Circle.
When Jones arrived, he found the sliding glass door open and his friend dead inside. He said the home was "trashed."
According to the incident report, this occurred minutes after midnight Wednesday. But on Thursday, Capt. Chris Lyons arrested Jones. He said investigators figured out that Jones waited to call the police when he found his dead friend.
According to the incident report, investigators believe Jones hid evidence. The sheriff's office charged Jones with concealing a dead body, tampering with evidence, making false statements and possessing marijuana.
Sheriff Gary Sisk said the investigation is still active. But investigators do not believe Jones killed the man; he appeared to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot, though they don't know if the shooting was on purpose.
Sisk said the concealing a dead body charge was not the result of Jones moving the corpse. They charged him because he waited too long to report the killing.
How long did he wait? Sisk said he wasn't sure.
"But it was more than just somebody in shock, waiting 10 or 15 minutes," he said.