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Girl, 3, seeks help after fatal gun blasts

With her mother dead and her father dying with a gun in his hand, the girl tells a neighbor, "My mom's hurt."

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published October 10, 2005

LARGO - With her mother dead and her father dying on the floor Sunday afternoon, 3-year-old Lauren Jones went for help.

She tapped on one door, then a second.

"My mom's hurt," she told Holly Riggle.

Riggle scooped up the little blond-haired girl to take her home to her mother's duplex at 3447 Dahlia Place, said Riggle's husband, Scott, speaking on her behalf Monday.

Riggle carried Lauren through the open door, then quickly turned around. In the living room, Lauren's mother, Dawn Jones, 36, was dead on the couch, shot three times in the face, Largo police said.

The man suspected of pulling the trigger, Dawn Jones' estranged husband, Richard Jones, 38, was moaning on the floor, a bullet wound to his forehead, police said. A six-shot revolver was still in his hand, Detective Joe Coyle said.

Riggle called police at 3:15 p.m. When Coyle arrived, he spoke to Lauren. The detective wanted to rule out other suspects, so he asked the girl whether mom and dad had been the only people in the house. The girl said yes. Coyle did not press her on how much she saw.

"She was very articulate," the detective said. "She said, "Daddy was hitting Mommy.' "

Investigators think Richard Jones arrived at the house between 2 and 3 p.m. and the two began arguing.

Dawn Jones had moved into the duplex about a month ago, and the couple were talking about divorce after about eight years of marriage, Coyle said. Richard Jones, a construction worker, continued to live in St. Petersburg.

Scott Riggle described Dawn Jones as an attentive mother and a woman trying to start over.

"She seemed like a woman who wanted to get on with her life," he said. She worked in sales, he said, though he did not know where.

"She was really ecstatic about her work and wanted to get rid of this piece of junk," Riggle said, pointing to Jones' old Buick, before breaking down in tears.

Riggle said he had only seen Richard Jones once, though his wife had seen him on a handful of occasions during the past two months.

"Relatives tell me their relationship had been rocky for a long time," Coyle said.

No one heard the shots.

Dawn Jones was pronounced dead at the scene. Her husband, meanwhile, was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, where he died Monday afternoon.

Lauren Jones was taken into protective custody Sunday evening and was awaiting placement with relatives Monday, Coyle said. Dawn Jones' mother had come from Connecticut.

"The child has two or three family members that want to take care of her," the detective said.

Coyle said investigators may never know what sparked the violence. Neighbors told police that Dawn Jones had begun dating a neighbor, though it was unknown what role, if any, that played.

Detectives are also trying to determine the history of the murder weapon. It showed wear, suggesting it was bought on the street.

"We don't know yet where it came from," Coyle said. "He's not a gun person."

Jones' criminal history is limited to an arrest for marijuana possession in 2003.

He pleaded guilty and paid court costs, records show.

[Last modified October 10, 2005, 19:23:02]