Steven Anthony Jones

Case record: Steven Anthony Jones

Background

Steven Anthony Jones was sentenced to death for killings connected to a robbery and a long string of violence, torture and rape that stretched from Lancaster to Arizona and into a Los Angeles County jail.

The sentencing proceeding included remarks in which Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy ordered Jones to be quiet after he made outbursts during the court session. Jones responded during the session when the judge told him to be quiet. The judge later expressed skepticism about Jones’s claim that he was a changed person.

Jones attributed his conduct to drugs and being on the streets at an early age. He also blamed his violence on childhood abuse and an addiction to drugs.

People

• Steven Anthony Jones — defendant
• Neil Hacker — victim; killed by fatal shooting during a robbery at a carwash
• Sharon Ann Willis — victim; beaten to death with a pick hammer in a Lancaster motel room
• Carrie Lienhard — victim’s relative; whose fiancée was shot in the back of the head by Jones
• Howard Duncan — victim’s relative; whose sister was fatally beaten by Jones with a pick hammer
• Kathleen Kennedy — judge
• Michael Blake — Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty.
• Robert Schwartz — attorney for the defense

The offence

Jones was convicted and sentenced to Death for first-degree murder connected to:

• Neil Hacker’s November 2004 shooting death during a robbery at Critical Car Care in Quartz Hill.
• Sharon Ann Willis’s December 2004 beating death of Willis in a Lancaster motel room.

The judge characterized the murders as follows:

"Those apologies do not make up for the horrific crimes that you committed,"
the judge told the defendant, noting that "the violence that you have perpetrated has spanned years and years."

Kennedy said Hacker was "basically executed" for "the purpose of obtaining a few dollars," and that Willis was attacked with a pick hammer in a "particularly violent crime" in which she apparently suffered greatly and was not a quick death.

Relatives confronted Jones in the downtown L.A. courtroom and told him he had destroyed their lives, including:

"You show no guilt or remorse and act as if all this is just a game,"
Carrie Lienhard said.

"For me, it's a nightmare and I'll never wake up from it."

Howard Duncan told Jones:

"You've devastated a lot of people's lives,"
Duncan told him.

Jones responded to the audience:

"I understand he had ruined lives and was sorry."
Jones said.

Jones also made a statement blaming his upbringing and addiction:

"From the bottom of my heart, I apologize,"
"I never knew about love. I never knew about family. . . . All I knew was violence."

During the sentencing proceeding, Jones engaged in an exchange with the judge:

"Mr. Jones, be quiet,"
the judge snapped.
"No, you shut up,"
Jones shot back.

During the trial, defense lawyers argued about Jones’s childhood and violent impulses. The attorney Robert Schwartz told jurors:

Jones easily flew into rages and was unable to control his violent impulses, attorney Robert Schwartz told jurors.

Investigation

The sentencing narrative included statements by prosecutors describing additional attacks and injuries connected to Jones’s violence beyond the killings of Hacker and Willis.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Blake described the Arizona attack as involving robbery and stabbing:

The victim survived the attack and testified during the trial.

Arrest

Following his arrest in 2005, Jones was brought back to California and continued his rampage from behind bars in Los Angeles.

Trial

Jurors convicted Jones of:

• raping one cellmate
• torturing and attempting to murder another inmate

Defense lawyers argued that Jones suffered an abusive childhood at the hands of his father, who inflicted daily beatings on Jones and his siblings.

Sentencing

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kathleen Kennedy sentenced Steven Anthony Jones to death.

Kennedy said:

"I hope that your apology was sincere,"
Kennedy said.
"However, those apologies do not make up for the horrific crimes you committed."

Kennedy also told Jones:

"I don't think that you are a changed person. I hope that you are, but I don't think you are,"
she told Jones.

The judge noted Jones’s additional convictions and described the span of violence:

Kennedy said Hacker was "basically executed" for "the purpose of obtaining a few dollars," and that Willis was attacked with a pick hammer in a "particularly violent crime" in which she apparently suffered greatly in what was not a quick death.

Kennedy listed other violent crimes for which Jones had been convicted, including:

• trying to kill two other men on Dec. 12, 2004, at a Lancaster home where he had rented a room
• sexually assaulting a fellow inmate in concert with another prisoner at the Men’s Central Jail on June 10, 2005
• battering a deputy trying to extract him from his cell following that attack
• torturing and trying to kill another inmate on Dec. 20, 2005

The sentencing remarks were accompanied by comments from prosecutors and jurors’ descriptions of Jones:

• Jurors described him as a “killing machine.”
• A prosecutor likened him to a crocodile lurking in the water awaiting his prey.

Even one of Jones’s attorneys acknowledged his violent record.

Appeals

No appeal information appeared in the provided material.

Outcome

Steven Anthony Jones was sentenced to death on August 14, 2009.

Aftermath

Victims’ relatives confronted Jones in the downtown L.A. courtroom as part of the sentencing proceeding, and Jones continued to offer explanations for his violence centered on childhood abuse and drugs.