Just before Kalynn Shiquez Ruthenberg shot a 21-year-old chemistry major again, he told one of his two alleged accomplices to take the Nikes off the young man.
That was in February 2015 after prosecutors say Ruthenberg lured Clark Atlanta University junior James E. Jones to Marietta with a Craigslist advertisement claiming he’d sell Jones an iPhone 6.
On Monday, Cobb County superior court judge Stephen Schuster sentenced Ruthenberg to life in prison without the chance of parole plus 25 years.
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“James Jones was a true victim. He was a son, brother, mentor and best friend who went to buy a cell phone that cost him his life,” Schuster said, according to the district attorney’s office.
Ruthenberg was convicted earlier this month of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery among other charges.
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
Credit: Cobb County Sheriff's Office
The charges against the other two, 21-year-old Jordan James Baker and 22-year-old Jonathon O’Neil Myles, are still pending. Both testified against Ruthenberg and remain in custody without bond.
“These three defendants spun a web of deception that day. Ruthenberg, to prove that he executed this man, stole his Nike shoes as a souvenir of the murder,” the judge said.
The trio was arrested less than 24 hours after the shooting on Jamaica Cove.
Jones — a native of Daytona Beach, Florida — was found in the front seat of his car with gunshot wounds to his right shoulder and the right side of his neck.
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At the funeral, Samuel Heath said his younger brother had plans to study in China that summer.
Jones’ death came a couple weeks after a Cobb couple was tricked into going to Telfair County to buy a vintage Mustang advertised on Craigslist.
Ronnie "Jay" Towns pleaded not guilty in April to killing 66-year-old June Runion and 69-year-old Elrey "Bud" Runion. He faces the death penalty.
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