A man who claimed self-defense in a fatal shooting and whose conviction and life sentence were overturned has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and will be released from prison in about eight years.
Earl Jones was convicted in 2017 in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court on charges including aggravated murder.
Three years later, a state appeals court overturned Jones’ conviction and ordered a new trial on all the charges except aggravated murder. The Ohio Supreme Court in 2021 reinstated the aggravated murder charge.
Jones’ new trial was scheduled to take place in May, but prosecutors pursued a plea deal because the state’s self-defense laws have changed since he was found guilty nine years ago, and prosecutors say a conviction under the new laws would have been more difficult.
On Feb. 12, Jones pleaded guilty to the lesser charges of voluntary manslaughter and felonious assault. As part of the plea, prosecutors and Jones’ attorney agreed on an 18-year sentence. He gets credit for the nearly 10 years he already has been incarcerated.
As the family of Kevin Neri, the man Jones killed, looked on, Judge Virginia Tallent imposed the 18-year sentence. Tallent noted that the changes in state law were “significant.”
But she also called Jones “a predator” who had made a series of decisions that “escalated into horrible violence.”
Family calls outcome an ‘injustice’
Neri’s family had wanted a new trial instead of the plea deal. His brother, Diego Neri, said outside the courtroom that the plea and sentence was a racial injustice. He and his family say that Jones, who is white, received a second chance that Kevin Neri, who is of mixed race, would not have received.
“If the roles were reversed, my brother would have been hit with the entire book,” he said.
Neri’s mother, Daneal Neri, criticized the prosecutor’s office, which she said “bullies” victims’ families. She also said Tallent should have imposed a longer sentence.
“The court system is a joke – there’s never justice,” she said. “And tonight, Earl Jones gets to go to that jail and put that smirk on his face, and so does his family. Because he won again.”
As Jones was being led out of the courtroom, he flashed a smile at his family members who were in the courtroom.
Prosecutor Pillich responds
In a statement, Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich acknowledged the deep pain the outcome had caused Neri’s family and friends.
“I recognize that today’s outcome may feel like the system is reopening a wound that never truly heals. Kevin was 19 years old, with his whole life ahead of him, and nothing about that loss will ever be diminished,” Pillich said. “At the same time, prosecutors are bound to follow the law as it is written. Ohio’s self-defense statutes have changed, and those new provisions would make it more difficult to secure a new conviction against Earl Jones. While not ideal, and the decision difficult, this plea ensures that the defendant will remain in prison for years.”
She said that the 18-year sentence is consistent with many other sentences in murder cases this year and protects the community for as long as possible.
“My office remains committed to pursuing justice within the framework of the law,” Pillich said, “and to ensure victims’ families are treated with dignity, transparency and respect throughout the criminal justice process, even if the outcome is not what they had hoped for.”
What led to fatal shooting of Kevin Neri
The case dates back to 2016, when Jones fatally shot Neri who was dating Jones’ former girlfriend.
Jones testified during his 2017 trial that he shot Neri in self-defense, saying he believed Neri had a gun.
In the months before the killing, prosecutors said Jones was angry that Neri was dating his former girlfriend and helping raise the son Jones had fathered with her.
There was testimony that Jones harassed Neri through text messages and social media, and Neri taunted Jones, including by claiming to be a better father.
Among the evidence presented were numerous electronic messages sent between Jones and Neri, as well as between Jones and his former girlfriend. Jones repeatedly referred to Neri using a racial slur.
The day of the shooting, Jones and Neri exchanged heated messages. Jones also posted a photo of his former girlfriend wearing a bra and underwear on Facebook and Twitter.
That night, prosecutors said Neri was expecting to meet Jones for a fist fight outside the woman’s Colerain Township home.
But instead, prosecutors said Jones pulled out a revolver and shot Neri, who tried to run away, three times.
Jones then surrendered to authorities.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio man whose life sentence was overturned pleads to lesser charges
Reporting by Kevin Grasha, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
