A man accused of a grisly stabbing that hospitalized a pregnant woman in Brookhaven, forcing her to have an emergency C-section, had been out of jail on bond at the time of the incident, records show.
Christopher Jones, 30, was arrested last year on two felony theft charges and was released on a $10,000 bond in November. Less than seven months later, he’s back in the DeKalb County Jail to face three more felonies.
Police said Jones admitted to stabbing 34-year-old Valerie Kasper, who was walking with her 3-year-old son along Peachtree Creek Greenway on June 4. She was five months pregnant and had to give birth to her second son, Theodore Jude, that night.
“I just don’t want him on the streets,” Kasper told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday. “I don’t know exactly what that means, I haven’t looked into it and haven’t watched the news myself because I can’t really handle it, but I’m just hoping that the charges are significant.”
Credit: Valerie Kasper
Credit: Valerie Kasper
Jones faces counts of aggravated assault, aggravated battery and first-degree child cruelty in connection with the stabbing. Police Lt. David Snively said investigators are still working to determine a motive, adding that mental illness is a factor. Snively previously told the AJC it was a “completely unprovoked attacked.”
This is the seventh time Jones has been booked into the DeKalb jail since 2011, records show. Channel 2 Action News reported that prosecutors said he had been arrested 12 times in Georgia during his most recent bond hearing. They added he has prior arrests in Alabama and as a juvenile in Tennessee.
“As this is an open and pending case, I am unable to confirm details related to criminal history in connection with this matter,” Yvette Jones, DeKalb County District Attorney spokeswoman, told the AJC in an email.
On April 18, 2020, Christopher Jones was arrested by DeKalb police on theft by taking and theft by receiving stolen property charges, both felonies. According to arrest warrants, he stole an unlocked, parked Toyota Camry. Police later found Jones in the vehicle along Memorial Drive, and he allegedly admitting to taking the vehicle.
Court records show he lived at a home in Stonecrest at the time, but Brookhaven police said he is currently homeless.
His public defender, Lauren C. Brown, filed a motion to request bond in May 2020, asking to be released from jail due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the onset of the pandemic, DeKalb and several other counties released inmates to prevent overcrowding and slow the spread of the virus.
However, the request was denied and he remained in jail until November 17. A second attempt was successful, and Magistrate Judge Alan Harvey granted a $10,000 bond. R. Javoyne Hicks, the county’s clerk of court, declined to comment about Jones’ bond release. Yvette Jones said the DA’s office “opposed bond,” adding that the case “has no connection” to the stabbing accusation.
In documents filed in court prior to his client’s release from jail, Brown said Christopher Jones “poses no significant threat of danger to any person, to the community, or to any property in the community” and that he “poses no significant risk of committing any felony pending trail.”
Brown told the AJC he’s no longer employed by the DeKalb County Public Defender’s Office. Letita Delan said he and Elizabeth Ura are not Jones’ legal representation in both cases. Delan declined to comment further.
The theft case is still pending. Jones was denied bond Friday on the stabbing charges and remains in custody.
