It took a jury less than an hour to convict Jerem Lamond Jones of the 2021 murder of Randy Johnson at the Golden Nugget in Biloxi, Mississippi. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Quick judgement
A former Alabama high school and college football star has been found guilty of a 2021 murder at the Golden Nugget Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, a grisly killing that prosecutors described as an “execution.” A jury took less than an hour Thursday to convict Jeremy Lamond Jones of first-degree murder of Randy Johnson, a popular barber and father of three from Gulfport.
You will never buy this story anywhere else in your life.
“Our defendant is chasing an unarmed man who is running away from him, and he is trying to tell you that this is self-defense,” Harrison County District Attorney Crosby Parker (MS) said in closing arguments. “You wouldn’t buy this story anywhere else in your life. You wouldn’t buy it for work. You wouldn’t buy it at home. Don’t buy it here. It’s ridiculous.”
According to the Sun HeraldJones will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Killed in cold blood
Golden Nugget security footage as well as witness testimony showed the jury exactly what happened on the night of September 18, 2021. Johnson was at the casino with his girlfriend, Tamara Willis, to celebrate her birthday. Jones arrived about an hour after them.
Jones then approached Johnson and asked him if he wanted to “take him outside.”
While sitting at the bar, Johnson and Willis noticed that Jones kept looking at them. Jones then approached Johnson and asked him if he wanted to “take him outside.” When Willis asked Jones about it, he replied, “I don’t have a problem with you,” adding the homophobic comment that Johnson was looking at him like he was “wearing high heels.”
The two men went to the parking garage, where Johnson threw the first punches. The two fought, and then Johnson pulled Jones “to the ground,” as he described it Sun Herald. Jones’ gun and holster fell and Johnson ran back into the casino. He told Willis that Jones had a gun and kept running.
Johnson rushed between the gaming tables, eventually tripped and fell. Then Jones caught up with him and shot him ten times.
Johnson was respected and loved by everyone
Randy Johnson, who was just a few months shy of his 42nd birthday, owned CUTS Barbershop in Gulfport. In memory of, WXXV 25 News When he was growing up, other guys in the neighborhood admired him and “wanted to be as cool as him,” he said.
Childhood friend Andrew Grayer described Johnson as “a real humble person.”
Randy was great with everyone. “He was always smiling.”
“He owned a barber shop and all the kids loved him,” Grayer continued. “Randy was great with everyone. He was always smiling. If Randy was having a bad day he wouldn’t even show up. We were all still in disbelief. He was a good person that everyone gravitated to.”
Jack Cox, another childhood friend, was saddened, especially because it was another incident of gun violence that claimed innocent lives. “…It was a complete misunderstanding and now his life is over. But in the meantime, I will say some encouraging words to him and we will keep him alive. Everyone loved him.”
