Jereme Lamond Jones a/k/a Jereme Jones v. State of Mississippi

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2023-KA-01164-COA

JEREME LAMOND JONES A/K/A JEREME APPELLANT
JONES

v.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 09/22/2023
TRIAL JUDGE: HON. CHRISTOPHER LOUIS SCHMIDT
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: HARRISON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT,
SECOND JUDICIAL DISTRICT
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER
BY: ZAKIA BUTLER CHAMBERLAIN
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: KATY TAYLOR SARVER
DISTRICT ATTORNEY: WILLIAM CROSBY PARKER
NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 02/11/2025
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:

BEFORE CARLTON, P.J., McDONALD AND McCARTY, JJ.

CARLTON, P.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Jereme Jones was convicted of first-degree murder following a jury trial in the

Harrison County Circuit Court and sentenced to life imprisonment. Jones now appeals,

arguing that the jury’s verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

¶2. Finding no merit to Jones’s claim, we affirm his conviction of first-degree murder and

his sentence.

FACTS

¶3. Shortly after midnight on September 18, 2021, Tamara Willis and Randy Johnson
were seated in the lounge area of the Golden Nugget Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Willis

testified that she noticed a man, later identified as Jones, staring at her and Johnson. Willis

asked Jones, “What’s wrong, bud?” According to Willis, Jones responded, “[Y]ou good, I’m

just worried about this [guy] you with watching every man that walk by like they got on a

pair of heels.” Willis stated that she and Johnson “laughed it off.” Jones then asked Johnson

if he wanted to go outside and talk, and Johnson obliged. Jones and Johnson calmly walked

through the casino toward the parking garage, with Willis following them.

¶4. Willis testified that neither Jones nor Johnson expressed any hostility as they walked

through the casino toward the parking garage. However, as soon as Johnson and Jones exited

through the casino door and stepped into the parking garage, Johnson hit Jones in the head.

Willis explained that because she was still standing inside the casino doors, she did not

witness any further altercation between Johnson and Jones.

¶5. Willis testified that Johnson eventually ran back inside the casino. As he ran past

Willis, Johnson told her that Jones had a gun. Willis testified that Johnson was visibly afraid

as he ran from Jones. Jones ran into the casino after Johnson, and Willis testified that she

ran the opposite way. Willis heard gunshots, and then she saw Jones walk out of the casino.

After Jones left the casino, Willis began to search for Johnson. She learned from law

enforcement that Johnson had been shot and killed.

¶6. The State played surveillance footage from the casino that showed the entire

altercation. The video shows Jones, Johnson, and Willis calmly walking toward the exit of

the casino and the parking garage. Jones held the door open for Johnson and Willis to exit.

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As Johnson exited through the door, he began punching Jones. Jones punched Johnson back,

and a fight ensued. During the scuffle, Jones’s gun fell out of his holster. Upon seeing the

gun, Johnson turned and ran back inside the casino. Jones then picked up his gun and chased

after Johnson. The footage shows Jones chasing Johnson across the casino floor. Near the

slot machines, Johnson fell down, got back up, and fell down again. Jones closed in on

Johnson, and when Johnson fell the second time, Jones stood over him and fired ten shots.

Johnson lifted his arms up, and Jones stomped on Johnson’s face. Jones then walked away

and exited the casino.

¶7. Law enforcement eventually apprehended Jones and arrested him in connection with

Johnson’s murder. Investigator James Gladden of the Biloxi Police Department testified that

he interviewed Jones about the events leading up to the shooting. The State played the audio

of Jones’s interview to the jury and also provided the jury with a transcript of the interview.

¶8. During the interview, Jones told Investigator Gladden that as he was walking through

the casino, he noticed two people—Willis and Johnson—staring at him. He approached

Willis and Johnson and asked, “Do you know me?” Jones stated that Willis and Johnson

started laughing, so Jones thought, “[T]hey think I’m a joke.” Jones explained that he “[did

not] want to cause a scene” in the casino, so he asked Willis and Johnson to go outside to talk

further about why they were staring at him. Jones stated that as they exited the casino,

Johnson “start[ed] swinging at me,” so Jones defended himself by punching Johnson. In the

scuffle, Jones’s gun fell out of the holster on his waist. Jones told Investigator Gladden that

after his gun fell, he “[saw] red,” so he picked up his gun. Jones admitted to chasing Johnson

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through the casino. When Johnson fell down near the slot machines, Jones stood over him

and shot him ten times, unloading his entire clip. Jones then left the casino.

¶9. When Investigator Gladden asked Jones why he shot Johnson, Jones answered, “[T]o

defend myself.” Jones admitted that “it shouldn’t have even gotten to that point but it was

just like after . . . he hit me, . . . I saw red[.]” Jones told Investigator Gladden, “I wish [it]

wouldn’t [have] happened how it happened[,] but I know how I am, I know how I defend

myself, I know that’s why I carry a gun. . . . [T]hat’s just that, it is what it is.” Jones admitted

that at no point during the altercation did he see Johnson with a gun.

¶10. Jones was eventually charged with first-degree murder for Johnson’s death. After a

trial, the jury returned a verdict finding Jones guilty of first-degree murder. The trial court

sentenced Jones to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of

Corrections. After the denial of his post-trial motions, this appeal followed.

DISCUSSION

¶11. On appeal, Jones argues that the jury’s verdict finding him guilty of first-degree

murder was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. In reviewing a challenge to

the weight of the evidence, this Court “view[s] the evidence in the light most favorable to the

verdict and disturb[s] the verdict only when it is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of

the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction an unconscionable injustice.” Little v.

State, 233 So. 3d 288, 289 (¶1) (Miss. 2017).

¶12. Jones was indicted for the first-degree murder of Johnson; therefore, the State bore

the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Jones killed Johnson “without the

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authority of law” and “with deliberate design to effect” Johnson’s death. Miss. Code Ann.

§ 97-3-19(1)(a) (Rev. 2020). “‘Deliberate design’ is synonymous with ‘malice aforethought’

and connotes an intent to kill.” Holliman v. State, 178 So. 3d 689, 698 (¶19) (Miss. 2015).

The jury ultimately convicted Jones of first-degree murder.

¶13. However, Jones argues that the evidence presented at trial showed, at most, that he

was culpable of manslaughter for allegedly killing Johnson in the heat of passion after

Johnson suddenly started beating him. Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-35 (Rev.

2020) defines manslaughter as “[t]he killing of a human being, without malice, in the heat

of passion, but in a cruel or unusual manner, or by the use of a dangerous weapon, without

authority of law, and not in necessary self-defense, shall be manslaughter.” Miss. Code Ann.

§ 97-3-35. Heat of passion is

a state of violent and uncontrollable rage engendered by a blow or certain other
provocation given, which will reduce a homicide from the grade of murder to
that of manslaughter. Passion or anger suddenly aroused at the time by some
immediate and reasonable provocation, by words or acts of one at the time.
The term includes an emotional state of mind characterized by anger, rage,
hatred, furious resentment or terror.

Anderson v. State, 361 So. 3d 609, 614 (¶14) (Miss. 2023) (emphasis omitted). Jones

submits that the surveillance footage from the casino shows that the entire incident, from

Johnson punching Jones to Jones shooting Johnson, lasted less than two minutes. Jones

asserts that this brief time frame supports his claim that he did not have time to cool down

after fighting with Johnson and that Jones “acted from a place of rage after being ambushed.”

¶14. The evidence presented at trial shows that Johnson punched Jones, and the two men

began to fight. During the fight, Jones’s gun fell out of his holster. Upon seeing Jones’s gun

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on the ground, Johnson ran back into the casino. After Johnson ran inside, Jones picked up

his gun and chased after Johnson. The surveillance footage shows Johnson visibly trying to

flee from Jones, with Jones in fast pursuit. After Johnson fell to the ground, Jones stood over

him and shot Johnson ten times, killing him. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that

“[d]eliberate design to kill a person may be formed very quickly, and perhaps only moments

before the act of consummating the intent.” Holliman, 178 So. 3d at 698 (¶19).

Additionally, “malice, or deliberate design, may be inferred from the use of a deadly

weapon.” Id.

¶15. After hearing the testimony and evidence, the jury received instructions on first-degree

murder, manslaughter, and self-defense. The jury ultimately rejected the theory that Jones

shot Johnson in the heat of passion or in self-defense and instead concluded that Jones shot

Johnson with deliberate design to effect his death. The jury’s role is to “determine[] matters

of weight, credibility, and conflicting evidence.” Beasley v. State, 362 So. 3d 112, 126 (¶50)

(Miss. Ct. App. 2023). On appeal, this Court will not reweigh evidence, assess the

witnesses’ credibility, or resolve conflicts between the evidence—“[t]hose decisions belong

solely to the jury.” Little, 233 So. 3d at 289 (¶1).

¶16. After viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, we find that the

jury’s verdict finding Jones guilty of first-degree murder was not so contrary to the

overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction an

unconscionable injustice. We therefore affirm Jones’s conviction and sentence.

¶17. AFFIRMED.

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BARNES, C.J., WILSON, P.J., WESTBROOKS, McDONALD, LAWRENCE,
McCARTY, EMFINGER, WEDDLE AND ST. PÉ, JJ., CONCUR.

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