Florida

  • Logout
  • Member Center

Belle Glade

Second suspect arrested in slaying of fishing champ Jimmy McMillan

 

Palm Beach Post

Detectives arrested a second man Tuesday in connection with the fatal shooting of popular Belle Glade grocery store owner and bass fishing champion Jimmy McMillan.

Johnathan Jones, 20, of Belle Glade, was charged Wednesday by the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office with being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, tampering with a witness and possession of a weapon after being adjudicated a delinquent.

Detectives say in the probable-cause affidavit that Jones was seen on surveillance video Jan. 2 walking up and down the aisles of the Alabama Georgia Grocery Store just eight minutes before 19-year-old Corey B. Graham Jr. was seen on the same video shooting McMillan.

When Jones was questioned by detectives, he denied any involvement in the shooting. When Graham was arrested Saturday and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of McMillan, Graham denied knowing anyone by the name of Johnathan Jones or “Pete,” which is Jones’ nickname.

But Jones’ name resurfaced a week after the shooting as detectives interviewed Graham’s mother, Errica Hearns, on Monday. She told detectives how, on Jan. 4, she found a handgun wrapped in a black shirt in her son’s dresser drawer.

Her description of the weapon — a charcoal black revolver with green tape wrapped around the gun’s handle — matched the description given by an anonymous tipster.

Tuesday’s arrest isn’t the first time Jones faced murder charges.

In October 2010, he was arrested in connection with the fatal drive-by shooting of 18-year-old James Sanford in Belle Glade. But the charges, including first-degree murder, were dropped in March 2011, and Graham was released in October.

dealsaver
The Miami Herald: Subscribe now!

More from
Florida

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

We have introduced a new commenting system called Disqus for our articles. This allows readers the option of signing in using their Facebook, Twitter, Disqus or existing MiamiHerald.com username and password.

Having problems? Read more about the commenting system on MiamiHerald.com.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK
0 comments

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category