Donnie Frank Jones Jr.A court-ordered mental evaluation will delay a prosecution decision on whether to seek the death penalty for Donnie Frank Jones Jr. in the July kidnapping, rape and slaying of Tullahoma, Tenn., nursing student Megan Sharpton.
Mike Taylor, 12th Judicial District attorney general, said his office still is mulling the filing of a notice that prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
Jones, 37, of 1912 Bel-Aire Drive in Tullahoma, is charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape. He pleaded not guilty during a Franklin County Circuit Court hearing in November and remains in the Franklin County Jail without bond, officials said.
Jones’ lawyer, Winchester, Tenn., defense attorney Joe Ford, was in court Thursday and could not be reached for comment.
The Circuit Court order for the evaluation states that Jones will be assessed for his “mental condition at the time of the crime” and to determine whether he was “able to appreciate the nature or wrongfulness” of the acts he’s accused of committing.