BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The Erie County District Attorney's Office announced that 27-year-old Charles L. Jones of Buffalo pleaded guilty Monday in Erie County Court to two counts of first-degree manslaughter.
Jones previously pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in June 2021 for fatally stabbing his mother and ex-girlfriend but according to a report from The Buffalo News, in March Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio granted Jones' request to withdraw his guilty plea.
His guilty plea on Monday comes on the same day jury selection was scheduled to begin in his trial. The district attorney's office said Jones agreed to serve the maximum sentence of 50 years of imprisonment.
According to the district attorney's office, Jones fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend, 25-year-old Jacquetta Lee, inside her apartment on Main Street near Heath Street. She was reported missing by her family and found dead in the bathroom of her apartment three days later on July 18, 2019.
On August 16, 2019, the Buffalo Police Department executed a search warrant and arrested Jones in connection with Lee's murder at his mother's home on Jefferson Avenue near East Ferry Street. During the execution of the search warrant the remains of Jones' mother, 52-year-old Alethia Atwood Williams, were found inside a closet around two weeks after she was killed.
Jones is scheduled to be sentenced on June 15 and he continues to be held without bail.
