Woman found without pants, shoes or underwear tells police Soddy-Daisy man shot her

John Richard Jones charged with attempted murder

A Soddy-Daisy man was arrested Friday after police said he shot a 27-year-old woman in the arm and chest, records show.

John Richard Jones is charged with attempted murder. He is either 74 or 76 years old. Court records show he has been booked with two different birth dates, and it's unclear which is correct.

On Friday, police responded to a report of a woman shot in the 12000 block of Old Dayton Pike and found Mandi Thomas with a gunshot wound through her arm and into her chest.

She was found without pants, shoes or underwear and told police Jones had shot her.

Officers went to Jones' home on Dallas Hollow Road and found him stepping out of his truck.

Inside the truck, officers found a pair of women's underwear, a single flip-flop, a ball of hair and a woman's purse, according to an affidavit. Officers also found what appeared to be drops of blood.

Jones told the officer that Thomas had jerked the steering wheel while they were driving "a couple hours" earlier and caused him to crash his truck into a wall. He did not admit to shooting her and requested an attorney, Lt. Mike Sneed said.

Investigators did find a gun at his home, he said.

Jones was booked into the Hamilton County Jail and released on a $260,500 bond.

He previously pleaded guilty to assault and reckless endangerment in 2002 and was sentenced to probation. Jones also was arrested a handful of times in the 1980s and 1990s, on charges ranging from evading arrest to possession of a deadly weapon, records show.

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