Attorney for accused Trenton man suggest cops misidentified killer
A wailing woman denounced a Trenton man accused of shooting a Philadelphia man to death on Halloween in 2014.
Donte Jones
The woman, who identified herself as the sister of slain 36-year-old Levonza Thompson, shouted as she walked out of court Monday that she knows accused killer Donte Jones fatally shot her brother.
“That b–- killed my brother, man,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “We keep coming her for nothing.”
Police have said Thompson was shot multiple times after he and Jones struggled. Jones was found at a home on the first block of Laurel Place, hiding under a pile of clothes in a third-floor attic, prosecutors said.
The woman grew frustrated after Jones’ attorney suggested he plans to file court papers challenging a crucial witness identification of Jones as the assailant.
Defense attorney Mark Fury told a judge that police may not have filed proper procedure when they showed a security guard a picture of his client.
Levonza Thompson (Facebook photo)
The security guard didn’t know Jones by name but recognized his face from working in the area of the murder, in the courtyard of the Oakland Park Apartments on the 200 block of Coolidge Avenue, for at least seven months, Assistant Prosecutor Skylar Weissman said.
But Fury suggested that police did not follow protocol after they got surveillance that allegedly showed the killer and showed only a single photo of Jones to the security guard. He said police should have used a photo array and the identification of Jones may have been unduly suggestive.
Judge Robert Billmeier must hold a hearing to determine whether the ID was legitimate.
Jones, who is being held in lieu of $1 million cash, has his next court appearance Dec. 19.
