Expired registration leads Fairview Heights police to capture fugitive in murder case
Joshua Jones had been a fugitive from the law for nearly two years when a Fairview Heights police officer pulled him over for expired vehicle registration and became suspicious on Wednesday.
The officer, Jacob Marino, subsequently discovered that the 21-year-old had been charged with murder in Madison County in 2023 and turned him over to police in Madison, where the case had originated.
“Professional, proactive law enforcement took a violent person off the streets of Fairview Heights,” stated a post on the police department’s Facebook page on Thursday.
Jones’s brother, Caleb Jones, has been in the Madison County Jail since September 2023 in connection with the same murder. He’s awaiting trial, circuit court records show.
The case goes back to July 25, 2023, when a double shooting took place in the 1700 block of Edwardsville Road in Madison.
At the time, police reported that Jaylen Woods, 19, had been found in the backyard of a residence with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A second victim, shot in the buttocks, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Madison police brought in the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis to investigate. Commander Nick Novacich, then a major with Granite City Police Department who retired last year as chief, gave no motive.
That September, police arrested Caleb Jones, now 25. The office of Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine charged him with first-degree murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm, according to the criminal complaint.
The office filed the same charges against Joshua Jones, but a judge agreed to place them under seal.
“It’s routine for charges involving violent offenses to be sealed and to remain under seal until the defendant is taken into custody,” said Brian Brueggemann, spokesman for Haine’s office.
The judge also agreed to seal a prosecution motion to revoke Joshua Jones’s bond in another case, Brueggemann said. He had been charged with aggravated battery in 2022.
At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Officer Marino observed a silver 2012 Chevrolet Traverse with expired registration in Fairview Heights, according to the police department’s Facebook post.
Marino pulled over the vehicle, whose driver reportedly told him that he didn’t have identification and gave a name and date of birth associated with a valid driver’s license.
“The Officer requested a picture from (Metro East Communications) of the name associated with the driver since he did not have identification,” the post stated. “The picture clearly did not match the driver. The Officer also found an unsealed bag of Cannabis (illegal in Illinois). The driver was detained.”
Joshua Jones then provided his real name, the post stated, leading Marino to determine that a felony warrant had been issued for his arrest in 2023. Madison County Circuit Court later unsealed the charges.
