On the afternoon of Tuesday, September 22, police found the lifeless body of 54-year-old American citizen Robert Jones in some bushes on Louise Bevans Street in the Port Loyola Area.
Jones’ body was found just a stone’s throw from where he called home for the last few months of his life. He had been living with a woman on Freedom Street. Reports
are that Jones went out on Saturday and did not return home. His common-law-wife reported him missing on Sunday, September 20.
It was a heart breaking scene on Tuesday as a crowd gathered and looked on as police removed the decomposing body from inside the bushes. His common-law-wife broke down in tears as she watched the body of Robert being lifted into the police truck as swamp water and blood poured from his corpse. By this time the crowd had taken a step back – the horrible stench was too overwhelming. What was more bothersome is that in such a moment the spectators were not in shock but were laughing at the deranged actions of a woman fighting the police and screaming out “dis da chance”. While it was clear that the woman was mentally challenged, her words “dis violence need fi stop” was nothing to laugh at – especially when you are less than five feet away from a woman who is identifying her dead loved one.
No one knows for sure what happened during the last minutes of Robert Jones’ life. Some neighbours speculated that he had been robbed and killed. However, police say that foul play is not suspected. A postmortem was inconclusive, but there were no signs of robbery or foul play.
The name Robert Jones may sound familiar because on New Year Eve 2008 his trailer home caught fire and rounds of live ammunition exploded because of the blaze. He and his wife were arrested and charged for possession of unlicensed weapons and ammunition. His wife died from health issues shortly after. Robert’s case was still pending up until death. Neighbours remembered him as a very kind man. Margaret Vasquez, a friend and neighbour, said, “Mr. Roberts is a very nice man. You ask him for anything and he gives you. If you meet him at the Chinese and he is drinking a beer he will give you a beer.”
One neighbour said, “I will always remember him throwing a party for some of the poor kids in the neighbourhood that he didn’t even know.”
