In the early hours of a Tuesday morning in Suitland, Maryland, a verbal exchange escalated into a fatal encounter for 54-year-old Amos Milburn Jones. On July 22, 2014, near a liquor store, an argument between Jones and a group of individuals turned violent, resulting in his stabbing. Police found Jones deceased at the scene around 1:45 a.m.
Within eight hours of the discovery, authorities had apprehended six individuals in connection with the homicide.
Those arrested and charged with first-degree murder were 18-year-old Jose Eduardo Menjibar-Alaman, 20-year-old Oscar Alberto Parada, 23-year-old Jose Irving Guzman Dominquez, 18-year-old Jose Martinez Serrano, 18-year-old Almicah Sergovir, and 17-year-old Katherine Abigial Lopez. Lopez was charged as an adult. The investigation suggested the altercation may have been initiated by a comment Jones made to Lopez.
During questioning, each of the suspects admitted to different levels of participation in the events that led to Jones's death. While two of the suspects were believed to have connections to the MS-13 street gang, law enforcement did not consider the murder to be gang-related. The suspects, with the exception of Lopez who was from Las Vegas, resided in Suitland and Temple Hills. They were all held without bond following their arrests. Family and friends remembered Amos Milburn Jones as a loving person who enjoyed fishing, basketball, and boxing, and who had served briefly in the Army. He was a father to a 16-year-old son at the time of his death.
