Naman Shrestha
In the first week of May in the Spring of 2016, the residents of the Chickasaw neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky, were stunned by the shooting of a 40-year-old upstanding member of their community. As Christopher Jones Sr. was simply going about his day, he was attacked and shot to death. What was supposed to be a week of celebration on account of The Kentucky Derby Festival was lashed with a wave of despair as the loved ones of the father of two mourned his sudden death. The episode titled ‘The Louisville Connection’ of A&E’s ‘Killer Cases’ chronicles the murder case of Christopher Jones Sr. in depth by highlighting every significant detail revolving around the killing, the ensuing investigation, and the subsequent trial that led to the conviction of the killer.
Christopher Jones Was Killed in the Middle of the Street
Born on November 21, 1975, in Jefferson County, Kentucky, Christopher Renard Jones Sr. began living with Cleo Mills and her family in the northeastern part of the county while he was a middle school student. He also had a brother, Shawn Jones, with whom he shared a close-knit bond. Cleo treated him just like her son, providing him with the utmost love and care. Owing to being raised with the constant support of Cleo and the rest of her family, he started to think about becoming independent and taking control of his life. After graduating with flying colors, Christopher was able to land a job, and at some point in his life, he moved to Louisville, Kentucky.
Christopher had also been in a romantic relationship with a woman named Chastity Stoner. Reports suggest that he was a proud father of two kids, one of whom was named Christopher Jr. With so many things to look forward to, the 40-year-old’s life came to a halt while he was simply strolling down the 800 block of South 41st Street in the Chickasaw neighborhood on May 4, 2016. A man suddenly got out of a car and shot him down, giving him fatal gunshot wounds. When the police arrived at the scene of the crime, they found Christopher lying injured on the ground. He was quickly rushed to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Christopher Jones’ Death Was a Case of Mistaken Identity
As the detectives were working on tracking down the killer of Christopher Jones, they came across a double homicide of 14-year-old Larry Ordway and his loving brother, 16-year-old Maurice “Reece” Gordon. As they found a connection between the two cases, the police managed to track down one of the teenagers involved in the murder and dispose of the two brothers, 15-year-old Anjuan Carter. They began interrogating him to learn all about the three murders and the whereabouts of the prime suspect, Brice Rhodes. Soon, another accomplice, 17-year-old Jacorey Taylor, was arrested. Both the teens admitted that Brice forced them to get involved in the murder of the two brothers.
During his interrogation, Carter confessed to the authorities that he was in the passenger seat when Brice jumped out of the car and shot down Christopher in the middle of the street. Then, Carter added that Larry and Brice sat in the backseat while Maurice was reportedly the getaway driver. As per Carter, Brice mistook Christopher for someone who had a bounty on his head. So, nobody got paid for the killing as Christopher turned out to be the wrong target. After the killing, the group didn’t talk about the murder at all. However, Brice suggested that Carter’s truck should be burned, just in case it was caught on any of the cameras.
More than a couple of weeks later, Brice got word that Larry and Maurice had told their family about Christopher’s murder. So, on May 22, 2016, he called the brothers to his residence, where Maurice allegedly got involved in an argument with one of Brice’s associates. After hitting Maurice in the chest, Brice tied him up while locking up his brother in the bathroom. Then, he and his other associates beat and stab Maurice to death before doing the same to Larry.
After that, the bodies of the two brothers were dumped in the backyard of the abandoned house at 400 River Park Drive, east of Shawnee Park. The bodies then suffered the same fate as Carter’s truck — they were burned. After that, Carter was ordered to tidy up the murder scene. Just a couple of days after the burned bodies were discovered, the investigators spotted Brice’s car on Preston Highway on May 24. He was arrested on an unrelated charge of domestic abuse, keeping him off the streets as they built a strong case against him related to the murders of Christopher Jones, Larry Ordway, and Maurice Gordon.
Brice Rhodes is Awaiting His Official Sentencing
A couple of months later, on July 14, Brice Rhodes was indicted on the three murder charges against him. More than seven years after the murders, Brice stood trial in December 2023. While the prosecutors brought several witnesses to the stand and presented evidence in front of the court, the defense tried to fight the testimonies against the defendant. Soon, the jury found him to be guilty of murdering Christopher and the two brothers. Besides that, he was also convicted of tampering with physical evidence and two counts of abuse of a corpse.
Before the sentencing, Christopher’s brother, Shawn Jones, also addressed the court. He stated, “He didn’t deserve for his life to be taken. For him to grow with his sons and his daughter or get to know his granddaughter. He didn’t get to have that.” Christopher’s son’s mother, Chastity, also spoke a few words, mostly about their son. She said, “What he didn’t cause is for my son to lose his mind. He didn’t cause my son to drop out of high school. … He caused my son to be a 4.0 GPA student to get an offer from the University of Louisville football team.”
Finally, on March 13, 2024, the jury recommended that Brice serve a life imprisonment sentence without the possibility of parole for the three counts of murder he was found guilty of. Moreover, he was recommended to serve five years of tampering with evidence and one year for the two counts of abuse of a corpse. Currently, Brice is held up at Kentucky State Penitentiary while he awaits his official sentencing, which is set for sometime in the spring of 2025.
