Vicksburg man indicted for baby’s shaking death|[08/22/2008]

Published 12:00 am Friday, August 22, 2008

An indictment says Keiwana Hoza Jones, 25, shook his girlfriend’s 4 1/2-month-old son so violently the child died.

The manslaughter charge resulted from one of two homicide cases reviewed by Warren County grand jurors who ended their session Thursday. In the other, jurors determined there was not enough evidence to indict a Vicksburg man accused of shooting his brother-in-law near a North Washington Street Lounge.

Jones was arrested in February and charged after an autopsy showed the infant, Matthew Parker, son of Felicia Parker, died of Shaken Baby Syndrome. Parker told authorities she woke during the night to find her son was not breathing and called for help. The baby was pronounced dead at 11:27 p.m. on Feb. 6. An autopsy later revealed the cause of the death to be Shaken Baby Syndrome.

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“I’m just in shock, total shock,” Felicia Parker said earlier this year. “I keep thinking this is all a dream, that it’s not true.”

The syndrome is described as resulting in death due to swelling of the brain inside the skull after extreme shaking. Manslaughter carries a maximum 20-year sentence and doesn’t require jurors to find there was a specific intent to kill.

The father of the infant, Matthew Nash, 29, was facing a murder charge himself at the time his son died. In June, the trial of Matthew Nash ended with jurors unable to reach a verdict. Nash is among five men charged with murder in the killing of 25-year-old Justin Maurice Harris, on June 17, 2007. He remains in jail awaiting retrial.

Grand jurors, empaneled Monday, issued no bill in favor of James Ainsworth, who was arrested in the Feb. 10 shooting death of his brother-in-law, Donald Wayne Vinson, 39.

Police said Ainsworth, 24, shot Vinson following a family argument and claimed self-defense, something his lawyer affirmed.

“We clearly had evidence showing that it was self-defense,” said attorney Jerry Campbell. “We accumulated evidence and presented it to the district attorneys who then presented it to the grand jury. It was incredibly evident that the act was in self-defense.”

The deaths of the Parker infant and Vinson were the first and second homicides of the year in Vicksburg.

According to its tally, the jury heard a total of 93 cases and returned indictments in 79 of those cases. No bills were returned in 10 cases, three cases were reduced to misdemeanors, one case was dismissed and one case was referred for further investigation.

Two arraignment sessions were Thursday, during which both Jones and Ainsworth were arraigned.

Also arraigned Thursday were:

Danny Lee Jones, 53, 523 Farmer St,, felony bad check, charged May 8.

Jerry Lumkin, 60, 535 Hutson St., aggravated assault, charged May 28.

Lawrence Tyrone Madison, II, 39, 1481 Traxler Road, Utica, vehicle burglary, charged Nov. 21, 2007.

Derrick Marsh, 42, 419 Haas St., drive-by shooting, aggravated assault and possession of a weapon after a felony conviction, charged March 25.

Rondal Booth Morrison, 33, 2405 Athens Highway, Elberton, Ga., possession of a controlled substance, charged June 16.

Kenneth Rankin, 18, 248 Valley View Lane, armed robbery, charged Jan. 8.

Willie Wash, 47, 2422 Halls Ferry Road, sale of a controlled substance, charged May 13.

Hannah Lee, 18, 801 Clay St., accessory after the fact, charged Dec. 19.

Michael Partridge, 18, 801 Clay St., armed robbery, charged Dec. 19.

Jareld Ellis, 20, 2839 Clinton Ave., receiving stolen property and fleeing or eluding a law enforcement officer, charged April 8.

Lisa Doyle, 36, address unknown, embezzlement, charged Feb. 19.

Richard Johnson, 18, 1518 Ethel St., burglary of a dwelling, charged May 4.

Kory Grayer, 17, 1421 High St., two counts of burglary of a dwelling

Brian Odom, 17, 5737 Tucker Road, malicious mischief, charged Nov. 13, 2007.

Forrest Glenn Beard, 18, 116 Woodstone Drive, malicious mischief, charged Nov. 13, 2007.

Kimberly Williams, 30, 2608 Prosperity St., Jackson, altering outcome, charged July 9.

Karen Williams, 30, 215 Wayster St., Jackson, altering outcome, charged July 9.

Patrick Lane Hopkins, 37, 104 Bering St., third offense DUI blood test, charged Jan. 15.

John Boswell, 49, 304 Northridge Drive, sexual battery of a victim under the age of 14, charged for offenses in March through November 2005.

Larissa Parson Ellis, 30, 105 Athens Ave., attempted aggravated assault with extreme indifference and malicious mischief, charged Feb. 1.

Burnette Armstead, 25, 2931 Highland Ave., attempted burglary of a dwelling, charged April 21.

Walter Lewis Cook, 24, 240 Spouts Spring Road, armed robbery, charged Jan. 8.

Carlos Harris, 17, 214 Greenbriar Drive, burglary of a dwelling, charged March 28.

Michael Holt, 18, 204 Melrose, burglary of a dwelling and grand larceny, charged April 22.

Todd McDonald, 32, 503 Bazinsky Road, six counts of uttering a forgery between Jan. 24 and April 1.

Charles Height, 28, 1983 Lot 2 Highway 3, possession of precursor substance, charged April 30.

The fourth and final arraignment hearing for the August session of the Grand Jury was to be at 9 this morning.

The panel, chosen from voter rolls, meets with prosecutors, reviews case files and determines whether it believes there is sufficient basis for formal charges and trials.