The mother of the man accused in the fatal shooting of his 7-year-old half-brother Jan. 14 has been charged in the incident with tampering with evidence and filing a false report.
Lakisha Shannay Jones, 41, is being held without bond on a two-count indictment issued Monday by a Rhea County grand jury stemming from the shooting death of Jo'Zie Shane Brown, 7, at a home on Upper Fine Lane north of Dayton, according to court and jail records. When contacted by phone, officials in the Rhea County Circuit Court Clerk's Office said Jones had no attorney on record.
Chris'Tion Hamilton Jones, the boy's 19-year-old sibling, is charged with criminal homicide in the shooting.
In the indictment issued for Lakisha Jones, she is accused of concealing firearms inside the home where the shooting occurred while authorities were investigating and making a false report or statement to law enforcement to hinder the apprehension of Chris'Tion Jones, according to court records.
The investigation began Jan. 14 when Rhea County deputies answered the initial call, reported to dispatchers as a shooting, according to the affidavit filed in the case by Rhea County Detective Jesse Wilkey. As officers headed to the home, they were told the boy had already been transported to the emergency room at Rhea Medical Center in a private vehicle.
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In a search the day of the shooting, Wilkey found what he believed was blood on the living room floor and a couch in the room, the affidavit states. Wilkey found a live cartridge on the floor in the living room, a spent cartridge in the kitchen area and three firearms on a bed. Jones also was found with stains on his clothing that appeared to be blood.
At the Rhea Medical Center emergency room, Wilkey identified an apparent bullet wound to the boy's head, according to the document. The youth was later transported from Dayton to Erlanger hospital in Chattanooga, where he died.
After first telling investigators there was a struggle for the gun, Jones allegedly confessed during a Jan. 19 interview to "discharging a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield 9mm handgun, which he had pointed at Brown's head, causing his death," the affidavit states.
Lakisha Jones's next hearing in Criminal Court has not been set, court officials said. Chris'Tion Jones, held on a $500,000 bond, has a hearing set for March 5.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.