A 19-year-old Tacoma man was charged in the drive-by shooting that injured a 14-year-old girl after he fired two shots into a crowd of juveniles at a Federal Way apartment complex on Oct. 2.
Jerry Delon Jones, who was 18 during the shooting and turned 19 this week, was charged on Monday in King County Superior Court. His bail was set at $250,000.
The girl, who was shot twice in her legs, was transported to Harborview Medical Center. She suffered extensive damage to at least one of her knees that will require multiple reconstructive surgeries, according to charging documents.
Federal Way police responded to the shooting at 12:33 p.m. at the Retreat at Maple Hills Apartments, where one of the juveniles had arranged to engage in a mutual fist fight with Jones, the documents continue. The two have known each other for over a year and attended school together.
The juvenile showed up at the apartments with a group of friends, and Jones pulled up in his vehicle, pointed a gun out of the driver’s window and fired two shots in the juvenile’s direction, according to charging documents. Jones later admitted to police that he fired the first shot when he saw one of the males in the group attempting to pull a gun from his wastband, but the gun got “hung up,” he told police.
Jones told police he fired the second shot after his intended target turned and ran away from him. Jones also admitted he saw the girl fall to the ground and still left the scene.
Detectives arrested Jones at his Tacoma residence on Oct. 3 and found a Smith & Wesson handgun under the driver’s seat of his 2007 Ford Edge.
Jones’ arraignment hearing is set for Oct. 21 at the Kent Regional Justice Center.