In the late summer of 2021, the life of 21-year-old Stephanie Celeste Jones of Vancouver, Washington, was tragically cut short. On the evening of August 7th, she attended a party in central Vancouver with her 24-year-old boyfriend, Avreaunte Emmanuel Bennett. Throughout the day and into the night, the couple had been drinking and were witnessed arguing. Shortly before midnight, Stephanie was on a video call with her best friend, who later recounted that the couple was highly intoxicated and continuing to argue. At one point during the call, Stephanie was seen sitting in a vehicle. The call ended abruptly when Bennett told her friend that Stephanie would have to call her back. This was the last time anyone cooperating with the investigation reported seeing her alive.
Nearly a week later, on August 13, 2021, Stephanie's body was discovered in some bushes near the westbound onramp to Interstate 84 from Rooster Rock State Park in the Columbia River Gorge, east of Portland, Oregon. An autopsy later confirmed that she had died from a gunshot wound to the head. The investigation into her death was initially launched by the Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, who determined her death to be a homicide. When evidence suggested the murder had occurred in Vancouver, they enlisted the help of the Vancouver Police Department.
The investigation soon zeroed in on Avreaunte Bennett. Cell phone data placed him at his sister's home, the location of the party, until the early morning of August 8, 2021, after which his phone was turned off. Around the same time, a car matching the description of Bennett's Toyota Prius was captured on camera at the toll booth of Rooster Rock State Park. Further investigation revealed that Stephanie's phone had connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot in Fairview, Oregon, at the home of the mother of one of Bennett's children, a short drive from where her body was found. According to court records, Bennett had confessed to killing Stephanie to the woman at that residence. He also reportedly admitted to friends that he had shot her during an argument in a vehicle, claiming it was an accident during a struggle over the gun. After the shooting, he disposed of the firearm and his car. The vehicle was later located by investigators with the entire passenger side, where Stephanie had been sitting, torn out. Bennett fled to Tucson, Arizona, after news of the homicide was reported.
In January 2022, detectives located and arrested Avreaunte Bennett in Fairview, Oregon. He was extradited to Clark County, Washington, and charged with second-degree domestic violence murder. In August 2024, Bennett pleaded guilty to the charge. During his sentencing, members of Stephanie's family gave emotional statements about their loss, extending forgiveness to Bennett through their faith. Bennett apologized to the family, stating that Stephanie was a beautiful person who did not deserve what happened to her. The judge, calling the crime "unbelievably horrible" and aggravated by the act of dumping her body, sentenced him to over 20 years in prison.
