Phillip Jones was sentenced to death by the State of Ohio for a sexual assault and murder. According to court documents Phillip Jones would sexually assault and murder Susan Marie Christian-Yates in Mount Peace Cemetery. Phillip Jones was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Phillip Jones 2021 Information
Number A542310
DOB 05/02/1970
Gender Male Race Black
Admission Date 02/05/2008
Institution Chillicothe Correctional Institution
Status INCARCERATED
Phillip Jones More News
A 37-year-old Akron man faces the death penalty. A jury, Monday evening, convicted Phillip L. Jones, of Hudson Avenue in Akron, of aggravated murder, murder and two counts of rape.
Jones raped and killed Susan Marie Christian-Yates, 33, in Mount Peace Cemetery on April 23.
A jogger found her body in front of a gravestone with a plastic cross over her right eye. She had bruises over her entire body and injuries to her neck due to strangulation.
Prosecutors said during the trial that Jones had became an ordained minister while in prison for a prior rape and he had given an identical cross to his wife in 2006.
The jury will return to Summit County Common Pleas Court on Jan. 10 to decide sentencing. Jurors will weigh aggravating and mitigating evidence for and against Jones and decide whether he should get death, life in prison without parole, or be eligible for parole after 20, 25, or 30 years.
The judge will impose the sentence for rape; each count carries three to ten years. He also faces another 10 years for being a repeat violent offender. Jones’ criminal history includes convictions for kidnapping, assault and multiple rapes. Christian Yates had a conviction for prostitution.
Akron police said that Jones used to work at the cemetery and has family buried there.
https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2007/12/akron_man_faces_death_for_brut.html