In the small town of Appalachia, Virginia, the life of 38-year-old Janina Gina Lorraine Jefferson, a dedicated mother of three, was tragically cut short. On the chilly evening of November 27, 2016, Janina was ambushed and fatally shot multiple times in the parking lot of the town's water treatment plant, where she worked the night shift. The Black female's death was not a random act of violence but the culmination of a volatile relationship with her ex-husband.
The prime suspect in
Janina's murder is her former husband, Eric Monroe Jones. Their marriage had recently ended in a tumultuous divorce, finalized just months before her death. On the very day the divorce was finalized, Jones allegedly confronted Janina at her workplace, leading to an altercation where he reportedly assaulted and strangled her. This violent encounter prompted a fearful Janina to obtain a restraining order against him. However, Jones was released on bond, leaving Janina in a state of constant fear for her life.
Investigators believe that on the night of the murder, Jones lay in wait for Janina to arrive for her shift. As she pulled into the secluded parking lot, he emerged from the darkness and shot her at close range before fleeing the scene. Authorities later found Janina's work truck abandoned at the home of Jones's mother. Surveillance footage from a nearby convenience store captured Jones purchasing alcohol and cigarettes shortly after the estimated time of the murder, which remains the last confirmed sighting of him.
While Eric Jones has managed to evade capture and remains a fugitive, authorities have made one arrest in connection to the case. Jacob Seth Rowland, an associate of Jones, was taken into custody and subsequently convicted for his role as an accessory to the murder. It was revealed that Rowland drove Jones to the water plant on the night of the killing and later helped him escape. In the years since Janina's death, law enforcement, including the U.S. Marshals Service, has continued to search for Jones, who is considered armed and dangerous. He faces charges of first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and use of a firearm during the commission of a murder.
