Carlos Lemont Jones
A man reportedly confessed to police that he shot his ex-girlfriend 15 times in the back because she refused to answer his phone calls and texts since ending their relationship.
Carlos Lemont Jones, 23, allegedly also told police that if he had to do it again, he would have killed not only his former girlfriend, Sha’Dayla A. Johnson, 23, but her father as well, according an arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime.
Cops in Melbourne, Florida, said they were dispatched Tuesday at 7:48 a.m. to the 2800 block of Colbert Circle. They found Johnson injured at a carport.
“Sha’Dayla appeared to have multiple gunshot wounds concentrated in the back side of her body, suggesting she was shot as she was walking or running away from the perpetrator,” police said.
Paramedics took her to a hospital, but she died. Witnesses said that a black Nissan sedan with black wheels, similar to Jones’ car, was seen fleeing the scene after the shooting, according to the affidavit. Surveillance cameras recorded the vehicle.
Johnson’s father said he lived with his daughter at their home on Colbert Circle. He was resting in the living room on his recliner on Tuesday while she was getting ready for work. She exited out the front door to make it to work by 8:00 a.m., according to the affidavit. The father heard gunshots, and he checked out the living room window. He saw Jones, who had been dating Johnson for the past five months, from the chest up standing behind Johnson’s vehicle and staring in the direction of the house. Jones’ car had been blocking Johnson’s in the driveway.
The father stepped out of his home to check, noticed that Jones and his vehicle were gone, and found his daughter lying face down by her vehicle in a pool of her own blood.
Johnson and Jones broke up two weeks prior to the shooting after they got into a bad argument, the father said. Jones allegedly did not let things go. He kept calling and harassing her to get back with her, but Johnson refused to engage, instead ignoring his calls and texts, the father said.
Jones last tried to contact Johnson on the afternoon of Dec. 19, said the victim’s dad.
The defendant turned himself into the Palm Bay Police Department later on Tuesday morning, officers said.
“Palm Bay Police said when Carlos entered the lobby, he spontaneously stated that he was looking at facing 35 years in prison, but he would not elaborate why,” cops said.
Melbourne detectives said that Jones made a full confession to them during a post-Miranda interview made on video. He allegedly said he shot Johnson on purpose, it was premeditated, and he used a semi-automatic pistol he owned.
According to cops, Jones said he woke up angry the morning of the murder because Johnson was not answering his calls and texts.
“Carlos said it was that very moment when he decided he was going to shoot and kill Sha’Dayla,” officers wrote.
Knowing she had to work at 8:00 a.m., Jones drove to her home just after 7:30 a.m. to kill her. He blocked her parked vehicle in the driveway by using his car, and he found her as she was exiting her front door for work, the affidavit says.
The two apparently exchanged words, and as she walked back toward her home, he pointed his gun at her, and shot her 15 times in the back.
“His estimation in the number of rounds fired was based on the fact that he only had 3 rounds left in his magazine following the shooting,” officers said. “Carlos said he arrived with a fully loaded magazine, and his pistol including the magazine held a total of 18 rounds. Carlos estimated that Sha’Dayla was around 8 feet away from him when he shot her, and she collapsed onto the carport floor in front of her vehicle after being shot.”
Jones allegedly said he bought the gun and ammunition approximately a week before, though he claimed he initially got it for self-defense. According to cops, he said he changed his clothes at his apartment after the shooting, and tossed them in a dumpster, along with a box of 9mm ammunition. Then he allegedly drove off, going westbound on US 192 toward Interstate 95.
“When he entered Interstate 95’s northbound on-ramp, he discarded his pistol magazine with 3 rounds of 9mm ammunition out the passenger-side window,” officers said. “Carlos then travelled to the area of Nagle Drive in Rockledge, and discarded his semi-automatic pistol in a storm drain.”
He allegedly marked the dump locations on a map, putting an “X” on the spot and writing that the gun was there.
Officers said they were able to find Jones’ clothes in his apartment dumpster, and his discarded gun in a storm drain. Jones reportedly said he turned himself in to police after his mother called him and pleaded with him to surrender.
Jones is currently locked up at the Brevard County Jail for first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Held without bond for the homicide charge, he had an initial court appearance on Wednesday and is scheduled for an arraignment to take place on Jan. 19, 2023.
[Mugshot via Brevard County Jail]
