On a summer evening in Trenton, New Jersey, Rasheen Rinell Jones, a 31-year-old Black male, took a familiar walk to a local convenience store on July 23, 2013. He never made it back home. On his return journey down East Stuyvesant Avenue, Jones was the victim of an armed robbery that tragically turned fatal when he was shot in the head. Known as a hardworking family man and a popular local barber for 15 years, his sudden and violent death sent ripples through the community.
The
investigation into the senseless killing led authorities to two suspects, Zaire K. Smith and Knovell Desmond. A month after the incident, arrest warrants were issued, and both men were taken into custody. The U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force apprehended Smith in Trenton on August 22, 2013, and Desmond in Lindenwold eight days later on August 30. Both men were subsequently jailed, each with a bail set at $1 million.
As the legal process unfolded, the two men's paths diverged. Knovell Desmond chose to accept a plea deal on December 17, 2014, pleading guilty to first-degree robbery. In exchange, the murder charges and weapons offenses against him were to be addressed at his sentencing. Zaire K. Smith, however, maintained his innocence and opted for a trial. In February 2019, a jury found Smith guilty of first-degree felony murder, two counts of first-degree armed robbery, and several weapons offenses. For his role in the death of Rasheen Jones, Smith faced a sentence of 30 years to life in prison.
