SYLVANIA TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A Canton teen will be tried as an adult in the 2023 killing of a Sylvania Township woman. The teen is charged alongside her adult boyfriend whose mother they are both accused of killing.
Kaitlyn Coones, now 18, was indicted in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas on the following five charges: aggravated murder, murder, abuse of corpse, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. Coones was previously charged with murder in the Lucas County Juvenile Court.
Coones, who was 17 at the time of the incident, was arrested alongside her adult boyfriend, Jonathon Jones, now 34, in May 2023 for allegedly killing Jones's mother, Nicole Jones, 53. Authorities have not located Nicole Jones's body, but said evidence has lead them to believe she is dead. Prosecutors told WTOL 11 that Coones has confessed to police.
On May 5, police in Canton asked Sylvania Township police to check on the safety of Nicole Jones, whose home is in the 7400 block of Timbers Edge Boulevard. Township police and the U.S. Marshals Service entered the residence, but did not find the woman.
In a court document, authorities said Coones told law enforcement she visited Jones at his home by crawling through his window on April 19, 2023. She then allegedly told Jones he had five hours to "do something about his mother and mentioned killing [Nicole Jones] because [she] was preventing them from being together."
According to the document, when Jones did not follow through with her demands, Coones strangled and struck Nicole Jones with a rock, killing her. Coones told law enforcement that she and Jones went to the store and bought a tarp and cleaning supplies.
Coones and Jones then took Nicole Jones's body to a dumpster at an apartment complex. Surveillance video and GPS tracking through Jones's ankle monitor corroborated Coones's statements regarding the dumpster and purchases, according to authorities.
EARLIER COVERAGE: Prosecutors will seek to charge 17-year-old Canton girl as adult in Sylvania Township homicide
Jonathon Jones was arrested in Mexico on May 8 after a manhunt when authorities believed he went on the run with Coones. Jones was wanted for charges out of Wood County for pandering obscene material and child endangerment.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include information made available in recently released court documents.
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