On a cold February afternoon in Queens, New York, 37-year-old Tyrone Jones sat in his parked Jeep Cherokee, waiting for a friend to join him for lunch. It was February 7, 2021, and what should have been an ordinary day took a tragic turn in the St. Albans neighborhood. Unbeknownst to Jones, he was being stalked by a man with a grudge, an acquaintance who had been planning his revenge for months.
The quiet street was shattered by the sound of eleven gunshots, all aimed at Jones's vehicle, striking him multiple times in the head and chest. When police and paramedics from the 113th Precinct arrived at the scene on Linden Boulevard, it was too late. Tyrone Jones was pronounced dead at the location, his life abruptly ended in a brazen act of violence.
The investigation into the murder of Tyrone Jones led authorities to Isaiah Stokes, a 45-year-old part-time actor from Rego Park. The motive for the brutal slaying stemmed from an incident that had occurred months earlier, in October 2020, at Jones's own birthday party. Stokes had reportedly behaved inappropriately toward female guests, and when Jones asked him to leave, an altercation ensued, resulting in Stokes being injured by other partygoers. Harboring resentment from that night, Stokes meticulously planned his retaliation. In the weeks leading up to the murder, he attached a GPS tracking device to Jones's Jeep, allowing him to monitor his every move.
On the day of the shooting, surveillance footage captured Stokes exiting a rented Audi SUV near the intersection of 200th Street and 118th Avenue. He was seen circling the area on foot for about fifteen minutes before he approached Jones's parked vehicle and unleashed a hail of bullets. After the killing, Stokes returned to his apartment and later, on February 16, returned the rental car to a location in New Jersey. The diligent work of the NYPD's 113th Precinct and the Queens South Homicide Squad led to Stokes's arrest on July 16, 2021. A search of his residence uncovered evidence linking him to the GPS device found on Jones's car.
Isaiah Stokes was indicted by a grand jury and stood trial for the murder of Tyrone Jones. The trial, which began on February 13, 2025, concluded on March 7 with a jury finding him guilty of murder in the second degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. On March 21, 2025, Justice Kenneth Holder sentenced Stokes to 25 years to life in prison. The Queens District Attorney, Melinda Katz, described the crime as a 'calculated murder,' emphasizing that Stokes had 'stewed for months' before carrying out his violent act of revenge.
