Two Albemarle County men have been arrested and charged with the murder of 34-year-old Joshua Lamont Jones last year.
While Albemarle police say a third individual was connected to the fatal shooting, they have so far declined to provide that individual’s name. However, based on evidence provided at a press conference announcing the charges Thursday, it appears the third man is the late Justice Kilel, a 20-year-old Gordonsville man who was killed himself just two weeks after Jones died.
Albemarle County authorities held their press conference Thursday to reveal that a grand jury had indicted Taquarius Orlando Catoe-Anderson and Torius Jihad Price for killing Jones at the Timberland Park Apartments just south of Charlottesville city limits on Feb. 21, 2023. Catoe-Anderson and Price, both 22, have been charged with first-degree murder, felony conspiracy and use of a firearm in commission of a felony.
Capt. Darrell Byers said the investigation into Jones’ killing spanned nearly 600 days before detectives presented their testimony Monday to the grand jury, which promptly indicted Catoe-Anderson and Price.
“I also want to acknowledge that a third individual involved in Mr. Jones’s death will not be brought to justice because they themselves were murdered in the city of Charlottesville in March of 2023,” Byers said at the press conference.
Byers declined to provide the name of the individual because the case falls under the jurisdiction of city police. Asked if the individual was Kilel, Byers said, “I’m not going to confirm or deny that. I think that should come from the city since it’s their case.”
The Daily Progress also asked Charlottesville Police Department spokesman Kyle Ervin if Kilel was the third man referenced.
“I cannot provide comment on the matter. You can defer to ACPD on any further inquiries regarding their case,” Ervin wrote back.
In a printed statement sent to media after the conference, the county said, “A third individual involved in Jones’ death was murdered on March 4, 2023, in the city of Charlottesville.”
That is the same date Kilel was killed at the Sunshine Supermarket in Charlottesville’s Fifeville neighborhood.
Footage of Kilel’s murder played in court earlier this year shows his assailants — Nasier Floyd McGhee and Orlando Wendell Allen Jr. — in a car outside of the Cherry Avenue convenience store. The two enter the shop, where McGhee proceeds to restrain Kilel from behind while Allen repeatedly punches him, Allen’s fist encased in brass knuckles.
Kilel had a firearm on his person during the encounter, which at one point became dislodged. In a struggle for the weapon, Kilel was able to shoot Allen. Allen then withdrew a handgun from his own pocket and fired four rounds into Kilel’s back.
The 20-year-old McGhee pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and in June was sentenced to 10 years behind bars, the maximum legal sentence. The 18-year-old Allen, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder — a plea he tried and failed to claw back — and was sentenced to 23 years in prison in July.
While police have not said if the killings of Kilel and Jones, which occurred less than two weeks apart, are in any way related, McGhee’s lawyer, Mike Hallahan, made the connection this summer.
During McGhee’s June 6 sentencing hearing, Hallahan claimed that 11 days before Kilel’s murder, McGhee had nearly been the victim of the Feb. 21, 2023, shooting at the Timberland Park Apartments. While it was Jones who was ultimately killed, Hallahan claimed that Allen had been the intended target. Kilel was involved in the incident, Hallahan said, although he did not specify the level of involvement.
“That was the reason [Allen] wanted to go into that store,” said Hallahan.
According to Byers, cases of gun violence in Albemarle have decreased 31% over the past year, while reports of shots fired have increased by 20% during that same period; while more people are reporting gunshots, fewer of those reports are becoming criminal cases.
Disrupting the cycle of gun violence, Byers said Thursday, requires a collective effort from neighbors and community members.
“This case is a painful reminder of how deeply gun violence impacts not just the victims but our entire community, leaving behind families and lives cut shore far too soon,” Byers said.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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