Fort Pierce - Friday August 11, 2023: After a three-day trial, a federal jury in Fort Pierce has convicted 41-year-old Marques Deon Jones of Orange County of kidnapping and two counts of felon in possession of a firearm. U.S. District Court Senior Judge James I. Cohn presided.
On August 14, 2022, Jones pistol-whipped his girlfriend, an employee of a Port St. Lucie group home located near SE Walton Road and forced her to leave with him in her vehicle. A group home supervisor, who witnessed the kidnapping, notified Port St. Lucie Police Department, who was able to identify Jones.
The following day a U.S. Marshals Service unit located Jones, standing outside of a private residence in Fort Pierce and arrested him. During trial, witnesses testified that as task force officers approached Jones, he retrieved a firearm from a parked car, and attempted to flee. The jury watched footage from a body worn camera showing Jones admitting that he retrieved the firearm because he wanted officers to shoot and kill him.
Jones is scheduled for sentencing on October 2 before U.S. District Court Senior Judge Cohn. He faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Christopher A. Robinson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, and U.S. Marshal Gadyaces S. Serralta of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), made the announcement.
ATF Fort Pierce Field Office and USMS investigated the case, with assistance from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Port St. Lucie Police Department, and the Fort Pierce Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Breezye Telfair and Justin Hoover are prosecuting the case.