In the quiet morning of February 6, 2023, a somber discovery was made at the Newport Transit Center in Newport, Minnesota. Terrell Eshawn McIntyre, a 39-year-old Black / African American male, was found deceased in the driver's seat of an SUV. He had sustained multiple gunshot wounds. A witness who saw him slumped over in the vehicle alerted authorities around 11 a.m.
Investigators quickly turned their attention to surveillance footage from the area, which revealed a man entering the
passenger side of McIntyre's SUV and leaving just seconds later. This man was seen walking away from the scene. Through further investigation, authorities identified the man as McIntyre's 37-year-old cousin, Sylvester Tremaine Jones. That evening, a SWAT team executed a search warrant at Jones's residence, located only a few blocks from the transit center. Jones was taken into custody without incident.
During the search of Jones's home, investigators discovered a. 22-caliber firearm that matched the shell casings found in and around the SUV. Upon questioning, Jones admitted to his involvement in his cousin's death. He confessed to arranging to meet McIntyre under the guise of getting a ride to a Target store. Jones stated that he shot McIntyre between eight and ten times.
In May 2024, Sylvester T. Jones pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder. Subsequently, in July 2024, he was sentenced to 367 months, approximately 30.5 years, in prison for the murder of his cousin. The court also ordered Jones to pay $8,500 in restitution to cover the funeral expenses for Terrell McIntyre.
