Officials said because this is a criminal case, they are not able to discuss any of the facts or the criminal evidence, including any new evidence they uncovered since the case went cold.
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Authorities say Tieray Jones was arrested in connection with his stepson’s disappearance and death.
Police questioned Jones after the 2002 disappearance of Jahi Turner, his wife’s toddler son.
He said the boy was gone when he returned. If the accused chooses not to fight his extradition, he will be returned to San Diego to face trial within the next 30 days. His mother, Tameka, was a sailor and was deployed aboard the U-S-S Rushmore, while Jones looked after the boy.
In a May 4, 2002 photo, Tieray Jones is assisted by Bill Garcia, coordinator of the volunteer search efforts, after Jones collapsed during a candlelight vigil for Jahi Turner in Golden Hill, Calif. Jones was arrested Monday, April 18, 2016, by U.S. Marshals and Raleigh Police Department officers in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, east of Raleigh.
“I wasn’t sure this day was ever going to come”, said Dumanis, who described it as one of the “highest-profile unsolved cases in San Diego County”.
Jones has previous convictionsin Maryland for misdemeanor marijuana possession, violating probation and felony assault. Both carry a 25-years-to-life sentence.
However, officials were unable to locate Jahi’s fingerprints on playground equipment, prompting speculation the child never visited the area, authorities announced Monday.
Jahi Turner’s disappearance triggered weeks of highly concentrated searches through fields, canyons, neighborhoods, and the Miramar Landfill, where people raked through 5,000 tons of garbage for more than one week looking for clues in the toddler’s disappearance.
Over the next 14 years, there were few developments in Jahi Turner’s disappearance.
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“We never gave up on finding justice for Jahi”.
