What drove a teen to murder the mother of her much older boyfriend with her bare hands while he sat by and did nothing?
The story of the Ohio killer couple, Kaitlyn Coones, 18, and Jonathon Jones, 33, has puzzled the public since news broke of the brutal killing a year ago. But there is finally a resolution: On June 4, the two were sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole in 25 years — when Coones is 43 and Jones 58.
Coones and Jones accepted a plea agreement of “no contest” to aggravated murder and abuse of a corpse, according to a news release from the prosecutor’s office. Though just 17 at the time of the murder, Coones was charged as an adult. As part of the plea deal, multiple previous charges were dropped.
On April 19, 2023, the teen girl issued an ultimatum to her boyfriend, Jonathon, who is nearly twice her age. She gave him five hours to kill his mother, 53-year-old Nicole Jones, or she would do it herself. When Jonathon didn’t act, Coones grabbed a rock from outside and bludgeoned and strangled Jonathon’s mother in their kitchen while Jonathon sat by in the living room, according to a criminal complaint via Court TV.
“Kaitlyn Coones stated that she waited for an opportunity when [the victim] was bending down in front of the refrigerator and strangled Nicole Jones and hit her with the rock until she heard gurgling sounds and blood from [the victim’s] mouth.”
The motive for the attack? Coones believed Jonathon’s mother was interfering with their relationship, the complaint stated. The day before the bizarre murder, Coones had disappeared from her foster home and reportedly sneaked into Nicole Jones’ house through Jonathon’s bedroom window. The couple, however, had been in an illegal relationship long before then. Jonathon had been convicted in March 2023 because of his relationship with her when she was 15, reported ABC 13 and News 19. He was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of the murder.
After killing Nicole, the couple went to a local store to purchase a tarp and cleaning supplies, said Coones in statements to police. The two then returned home and cleaned the crime scene before wrapping the victim’s body in the tarp and allegedly disposing of it in a dumpster at an apartment complex. Surveillance video of the apartment complex and GPS tracking through Jones’ ankle monitor corroborated her statements, authorities confirmed. Unfortunately, the dumpster had been emptied before police could search it, and Nicole Jones’ body has never been recovered.
The couple then made a run for the border. At first, authorities feared Coones had been abducted by Jones since he was wanted for child endangerment charges. The U.S. Marshals Service tracked them down in Mexico, where Jones was arrested. But things unexpectedly took a turn when both suspects told police details about the murder plot, reported Toledo station WTGV.
Their entanglements with the courts have not ended just yet. On April 18, 2024, Robert Jones — Nicole Jones’ brother and administrator of her estate — filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Coones and Jonathon, seeking $25,000 and other damages, reported WTOL 11.
“The agony of losing Nicki is compounded by the unimaginable betrayal we feel,” Robert said in court. “We are denied the closure that comes with laying a loved one to rest, and we are haunted by unanswered questions and horrific imaginings of her final moments.”
