Family and friends of a Clark Atlanta University student gunned down while attempting to buy an iPhone he saw advertised on Craigslist will have one more local opportunity to honor him before his funeral in his native Florida.
A public viewing will be held from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at Goolsby Mortuary in southeast Atlanta, the brother of James Earl Jones Jr. said Friday morning.
“Thank you all again for the love and support you have shown my family,” Samuel Heath wrote in a Facebook post.
Heath's announcement came less than 24 hours after nearly 500 people gathered on Clark's campus for a memorial to honor Jones, a 21-year-old chemistry major described as a scholar, a mentor, an aspiring doctor and a spiffy dresser. He dedicated himself to being a positive role model for students in local elementary and middle schools, the university said.
Adriane Woods, a fourth-grade teacher at Atlanta’s Fickett Elementary School, said when “Mr. Jones” was in her classroom, her students sat up a little straighter and smiled right back.
Jones was attempting to buy an iPhone 6 late Monday when he agreed to meet the alleged seller in a Marietta neighborhood. Instead, he was confronted by three men who shot him in the right shoulder and right side of this neck with a .45-caliber handgun, robbed him of his Nike tennis shoes, and left him to die in the front seat of his car, police said.
Tuesday afternoon, police arrested Jordan James Baker, 18; Jonathon O’Neil Myles, 19; and Kaylnn Shiquez Ruthenberg, 21, at Ruthenberg’s Franklin Road apartment. All three were charged with felony murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault and were booked into the Cobb County jail. Investigators believe Ruthenberg was the gunman, and Myles and Baker were his accomplices as shots were fired, warrants stated. They were denied bond at their first court appearances Wednesday morning.
In addition to his brother, Jones is survived by his parents, a sister and other relatives. A GoFundMe fundraising page has been set up to assist the family with funeral costs.
A “celebration of life ceremony” will be held at 1 p.m. Feb. 21 at Mount Mission Baptist Church, 810 George W. Engram Blvd., Daytona Beach, Fla.
— Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this report.
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