RENTON, Wash. — The man suspected of murdering a woman and her 3-year-old in 1994 in King County pleaded not guilty on Tuesday, May 9.
Jerome Frank Jones faces two counts of aggravated first-degree murder for the deaths of Stacy Falcon-Dewey and her son Jacob. He could face life in prison if convicted.
On Feb. 15, 2022, Jones was imprisoned in California for a separate murder that was committed in 1998 when he was charged with the deaths of Falcon-Dewey and Jacob.
On the morning of Oct 28, 1994, a Seattle Times newspaper delivery person discovered the scene in Renton, according to probable cause documents. Officers found the two victims lying in the middle of a road with fatal gunshot wounds.
According to charging documents, Jones bound, beat, and raped Falcon-Dewey. He is believed to have shot her son in front of her before killing her, according to the documents.
Evidence collected at the scene suggests there was a struggle and that Jones "may have been looking for something," according to probable cause documents. The contents of Falcon-Dewey's purse were "strewn about" her vehicle.
Jones was eventually identified through DNA evidence.
Stacy's mother, Vianne Falcon, says she'll never forget that day. She was working at a coffee shop in Pacific County when the police walked in.
"I couldn't believe it," she said. "And I went running down the street like a wild woman until I found a place I could just collapse and cry."
Nearly 30 years later, memories of her daughter and grandson still consume her.
"I had to keep busy," she said. "That's why I became a workaholic. I had to keep busy with other things. As many things as I could take on so I didn't leave room for the darkness to come."
Initially, Vianne and her family believed Stacy and Jacob were killed during a failed carjacking. It was the only thing that they could come up with because Stacy was loved by everyone, Vianne said.
After the crimes in King County, Jones killed a man in California in March of 1995, according to charging documents.
Following that crime, Jones fled back to Seattle where he was later arrested and held in King County Jail. While in custody, he assaulted a corrections officer. He was convicted of second-degree assault in 1996.
Jones was extradited to California to stand trial for murder. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 1998. He was still in prison for that offense when charges were filed against him for the murders in King County.
Jones was previously convicted of assault for shooting someone during a robbery in 1987 and has been convicted of several additional crimes while in prison, including assaults in 2004 and 2013, and felony possession of a weapon in 2016.