ST. LOUIS, Missouri — A mother called her son just to check in. She never imagined that call would become the last time she heard his voice.
On March 2, 2022, 19-year-old Jadun Byrd had taken a Lyft to meet his mother at work. He was on FaceTime with her when a white Dodge Journey pulled into the parking lot on Whittier Street in St. Louis’ The Ville neighborhood.
Someone lowered the driver’s side window and fired multiple shots.
Leslie Byrd heard the gunfire through the phone. She watched her son fall to the ground. Then someone accidentally kicked the phone — and the screen rolled sideways.
“They just shot that boy up,” she recalled hearing. “I seen his head just roll and his hands curled up.”
“They didn’t even rob him,” she said. “They just pulled up and shot and drove off.”
The Evidence Was Damning
Surveillance footage showed the Dodge Journey circling Byrd’s neighborhood — then following his Lyft straight to the scene.
Jonathon Xavier Jones, now 21, was seen on camera entering that vehicle roughly 30 minutes before the shooting. His fingerprints were found on the driver’s side door. A gun recovered from his residence was forensically linked to the murder.
Two passengers inside the Journey that night identified Jones as the driver and said he was among those who opened fire.
Investigators also found that Jones switched his phone to airplane mode just before the shooting — and turned it back on shortly after.
Sentenced, But a Family Broken Forever
On Friday, Circuit Judge Craig K. Higgins sentenced Jones to life in a state correctional facility with the possibility of parole. Jones had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder as part of a plea agreement.
The detail that makes this case even harder to sit with: Jones was only 17 at the time — and was already a fugitive, having escaped from a juvenile facility where he was held in a separate homicide case. He has since been convicted in that case as well.
Jadun Byrd was 19. He was heading to see his mother.
“His family will carry the pain of losing him for the rest of their lives,” said St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore.
No motive. No robbery. Just a car that pulled up, fired, and drove away — while a mother watched through a phone screen.
Does a life sentence feel like justice in a case like this? Share your thoughts in the comments.