Mashonn Antoinette Jones was 54 years old when she died on Sunday, June 28, 2020, in Pomona, in the eastern part of Los Angeles County. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, she died of stab wounds near 1101 Brewster Drive. Her death was ruled a homicide, and it is listed as a Pomona Police Department case.
The Los Angeles Times Homicide Report described her as "a 54-year-old Black female" who "died Sunday, June 28, after being stabbed near 1101 Brewster Drive in Pomona." That entry is nearly all that has been made public about her death. Beyond her name, her age and the place where she died, almost nothing about Mashonn Antoinette Jones has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death.
She surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether she was stabbed during a fight or a robbery, attacked by a stranger or by someone she knew, or hurt indoors or on the street. It does not say what time of day she was hurt, whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Her first name is unusual, and its spelling may have varied in other records, which could explain why no trace of her life turned up in the searches made for this story. Her family name, Jones, is one of the most common in the country.
The address is a specific one, which suggests she may have been at a home or apartment building rather than on an open street, though the record does not say whether she lived there, was visiting or was only nearby. That is an inference from the address alone.
Pomona is one of the larger cities in eastern Los Angeles County, close to the San Bernardino County line. It is best known as the home of the Fairplex, where the Los Angeles County Fair has been held for generations, and of Cal Poly Pomona, a large public university. The city has a historic downtown, older residential neighborhoods of single-family homes and apartment complexes, and busy commercial corridors along its main boulevards.
The killing came in late June 2020, a few months into the coronavirus pandemic, when stay-at-home orders and closures had changed daily life across the region and many people were spending more time at home. Hundreds of people are killed in Los Angeles County every year, and a large share of those killings end without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Mashonn Antoinette Jones could be found in news archives or public records. More than five years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who lived near or visited Brewster Drive in Pomona in late June 2020, who knew Mashonn Jones and saw her in the days before her death, or who heard later talk about what happened to her, may hold information that could help detectives. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can contact the Pomona Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
