Prince Carmen "Rocky" Jones Jr. (1975–September 1, 2000) was an African-American man killed by a police officer in September 2000 in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Author

Ta-Nehisi Coates Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates ( ; born September 30, 1975) is an American author and journalist. He gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at ''The Atlantic'', where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, parti ...

attended Jones' memorial service, and later wrote at length about Jones' life and death in his 2015 book ''

Between the World and Me ''Between the World and Me'' is a 2015 nonfiction book written by American author Ta-Nehisi Coates and published by Spiegel & Grau. It is written as a letter to the author's teenage son about the feelings, symbolism, and realities associated wit ...

'', noting that the tragedies of racism are impossible to escape for Black people, even those well-off.

Biography

Jones was the son of Prince C. Jones Sr. and Dr. Mabel Jones, a physician and the daughter of a

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

. He attended

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, was a personal trainer at a suburban Washington D.C. gym, and was set to enlist in the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

. He had an infant daughter, Nina, with his fiancé Candace Carson. He was described as upstanding, religious, and a health food fanatic.

Killing by police

On 1 September 2000, Prince Jones was unarmed and driving his

Jeep Cherokee The Jeep Cherokee is a line of SUVs manufactured and marketed by Jeep over five generations. Originally marketed as a variant of the Jeep Wagoneer, the Cherokee has evolved from a full-size SUV to one of the first compact SUVs and into its curr ...

to meet his fiancée. Undercover police officer Carlton Jones (no relation) of

Prince George’s County ) , demonym = Prince Georgian , ZIP codes = 20607–20774 , area codes = 240, 301 , founded date = April 23 , founded year = 1696 , named for = Prince George of Denmark , leader_title = Executive , leader_name = Angela D. Alsobrooks ...

, Maryland, followed Prince Jones for 15 miles in an unmarked vehicle into

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

. Officer Jones displayed his gun and announced he was police (though he was not in uniform and did not display his badge). According to the officer, Prince Jones rammed the police vehicle with his Jeep, leading the officer to shoot at Jones' Jeep 16 times, striking him six times (including five times in the back). Two witnesses in the 2006 civil trial contradicted the officer's account; one testified that Prince Jones's vehicle was not moving when the shots were fired. Carlton Jones later explained the killing as a case of mistaken identity, and in October 2000 the county prosecutor, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Robert F. Horan Jr., declined to file criminal charges against Officer Jones. This decision aggrieved Prince Jones' family, friends, and local civil rights leaders, who noted Prince George’s County's documented history of police brutality and decried the continued failure of the criminal justice system to hold police accountable for serious misconduct. The county prosecutor's inaction was tantamount to "legitimizing murder", they said. The Prince George's Fraternal Order of Police lauded the prosecutor's decision, and of Officer Jones said "it's clear that he was defending himself." A memorial service for Jones was held at Howard University. Prince Jones, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Carlton Jones had all spent their undergraduate years at Howard, although none of the men ultimately graduated from the university. In January 2006, a Prince George’s County Circuit Court civil jury determined that Prince Jones's death at the hands of the Prince George County police was wrongful, and awarded $3.7 million in damages to Prince Jones' daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Prince African-American history of Virginia African-American-related controversies Law enforcement in Virginia Law enforcement controversies in the United States African Americans shot dead by law enforcement officers in the United States Police brutality in the United States Post–civil rights era in African-American history Race-related controversies in the United States 1975 births 2000 deaths

Biography

Killing by police

See also

References