In the early hours of a Sunday morning in Nashville, Tennessee, the life of 38-year-old Robert D. Shields was tragically cut short. On April 28, 2019, Shields was leaving the Elks Lodge on Jefferson Street, a place of community and social gathering, when he was confronted in the parking lot. He had been at a party the previous night and was reportedly carrying money from the event.
It was this that police believe made him a target in a fatal act of violence.
The investigation into the shooting death of Robert Shields led authorities to identify two suspects. A grand jury indicted both Dvontay Hyde, then 28, and James C. Jones, then 23, on charges of first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery. For over a year, the case saw a significant development when, in August 2020, law enforcement located and arrested Dvontay Hyde at a residence on Brickdale Lane. He was taken into custody and jailed on a $250,000 bond, marking the first arrest in connection with Shields' murder. The legal proceedings against Hyde concluded with his case being closed in August 2023.
While one suspect faced the justice system, the other, James C. Jones, has remained elusive. At the time of the indictment and Hyde's subsequent arrest, Jones was already a wanted man, implicated in the murder of Deshawn Ellison, which had occurred in February of the same year. Despite law enforcement's ongoing efforts and public appeals for information on his whereabouts, James C. Jones remains at large, leaving a measure of uncertainty in the full resolution of the tragic and untimely death of Robert D. Shields.
