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Jones was barely 15 when he stabbed to death his grandfather, Bertis Jones, in 2004 in Shannon.
Brett Jones had come to live there near his father, Tony, while his mother in Florida got a breather from the stresses between her teenage son and his stepfather.
Public controversy swirled around his incarceration and questioning by investigators without a parent’s presence.
How Brett has fared the past five years in prison can be gleaned only from indirect sources.
Jones’ appeals attorney, Sylvia Owen of Tupelo, won’t allow interviews with him while his conviction continues up the appeals ladder.
Brett’s mother, Enette Alcock, said she’d like to talk about her son but has been advised by Owen not to say anything as they wait on the appeal.
At his Lee County trial, Brett claimed he was defending himself from his grandfather’s fury over finding him with his girlfriend in the grandfather’s house.
Since the trial, family members have given sworn statements that Bertis Jones was erratic and emotionally unstable.
Owen also has insisted that his trial attorneys failed to show the jury an accurate layout of the kitchen, where the fight began, and which could have been persuasive in convincing them that the teenager was trapped by the older man, with no route of escape.
He’s been in prison since May 23, 2005.
But a MySpace website set up for Brett offers some insights about his years of reaching adulthood in prison.
He describes himself as single and straight. He says his occupation is “rotting.”
And he even says he has hopes to have children some day.
Brett earned his GED and was valedictorian of his graduating class at the Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility. He also got the math award.
He says he’d like to go to college.
Last year, he got involved with Kairos, a Christian prison ministry.
The website, managed by a free-world friend, shows photographs of Brett, as well as artwork he’s done and poetry he’s written.
The art contains mythological and religious icons, images of death and snippets of ideas.
“Save me, somebody!!” is written on one.
On another in which the word “Dream” dominates the center, a handwritten verse reads: As I lay me down to sleep; I think of my troubles, they make me weep; But as I slip into the world of my mind; I leave all my bothers and stress behind.
There’s even a photo taken Nov. 1, 2008, when teenager Tyler Edmonds was acquitted during a retrial on his murder charge in Oktibbeha County. Edmonds was 15 when he was indicted in the shooting death of his brother-in-law.
Chronologically, Brett Jones may have reached legal adulthood, but in survey responses posted on the website, he admits his “weakness” is kids and small fuzzy animals.
He says his first thought as he wakes up is, “I’m hungry.”
He also admits he smokes and likes strong black coffee. He’s says he’s been beaten up.
He leaves blank the question of whether he’s ever been in love.
He also leaves blank the last category on the survey: Number of things in my past I regret.
Suzanne Singletary, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Corrections, says that despite Brett’s birthday, he can remain at Walnut Grove until he’s 22. After that, he will go to the state penitentiary at Parchman.
Wednesday, Owen was granted more time to file Brett’s appeal brief with the Mississippi Court of Appeals.
Contact Patsy R. Brumfield at (662) 678-1596 or patsy.brumfield@djournal.com.
11 in to say something to you obviously, and he comes in to
12 say something to you, and here you are with a girl in your
13 room. And he got mad, didn’t he?
14 A. He wasn’t mad.
15 Q. He wasn’t mad. All this came up over a phone
16 bill. Is that what you told the jury in your statement?
17 A. It wasn’t the -- the entire thing wasn’t about
18 the phone bill
19 Q. It wasn’t about the phone bill?
20 A. No, sir.
21 Q. And it wasn’t about Michelle?
22 A. No, sir.
23 Q. But yet he came at you in this fit of anger. Is
24 that what you’re telling this jury?
25 A. It was because when we was arguing, me and him,
26 we had both raised our voice and I talked back a little
27 bit
28 Q. Oh, you sassed him?
29 A. A little bit.
www.myspace.com/savebrettjones
This in incorrect. Brett's testimony states that he was defending himself from his grandfather's fury over his Dad not being at work when his grandfather called there and it being Brett's fault about his parents being messed up. NO WHERE in Brett's testimony does he say the argument was over a girl being in the house that morning.
JONES - DIRECT 279
17 A. About 4:00 o’clock I had been inside watching
18 TV, and I decided to make a sandwich before leaving to go
19 pick up my dad, and me and my grandfather got into an
20 argument.
21 Q. Okay. When the argument started, where were
22 you?
23 A. I was in the kitchen.
24 Q. Okay. And what were you doing in the kitchen?
25 A. Just eating my sandwich.
26 Q. Okay. Made a sandwich?
27 MR. GEDDIE: Objection to the leading, Your
28 Honor.
29 MR. LAMER: Your Honor, I’m sorry. HeTs 15
JONES - DIRECT 280
1 years old. I would ask for just a little bit of
2 leeway.
3 THE COURT: Don’t lead your witness,
4 Counsel.
5 Q. (Mr. Laher) After you had made your sandwich,
6 what happened?
7 A. My grandfather came up to me and was yelling.
8 Q. What was he yelling about?
9 A. At first he was yelling about my father. He had
10 called at work and discovered he wasnTt there. And he was
11 asking me if I knew where he was, and I told him no. And
12 then he was yelling about how my dad would have been out...
JONES -. DIRECT 281
refrigerator. What happened next?
2 A. Well he got in my face, pointing at me, and
3 yelling at me about how it was my fault about my parents.
4 Q. Brett, had that -- had he ever done that before
5 A. No, sir. He had yelled at me before but
6 like that
7 Q. Okay. After that happened, what happened?
8 A. Well he was talking about my father...