Stephen Jones Wiki – Stephen Jones Biography
Stephen Jones, a married father of five, was one of the two Concho County Sheriff’s deputies killed in Eden, Texas responding to a call regarding dogs. The second deputy was identified as Samuel Leonard, and an Eden city employee was also critically wounded. The murder suspect, Jeffrey Nicholas, has been arrested and is in jail on a $4 million bond.
Jones and Leonard were called at about 8:40 p.m. Monday, May 10 for a dog complaint, along with an Eden city employee. The standard call turned into “an altercation occurred which quickly escalated to gunfire,” officials said in a statement. Jones was 34.
Neighbors recounted the shooting to San Angelo Live, and said they heard a volley of gunfire. The Concho County Sheriff’s Office is collecting donations for the families of both deputies, they wrote in a Facebook post.
Stephen Jones Age
Stephen Jones was 34 years old.
Family
Jones was a father who would have been celebrating his 16th wedding anniversary on May 28, according to his Facebook profile. Concho County was his hometown, and he was homeschooled before he took jobs with the county. His profile says he was elected as a Concho County Constable, along with his job as a Concho County Sheriff’s Deputy. Among his duties were teaching a license-to-carry class, and he achieved the rank of sergeant.
Zach Leonard, the brother of fallen deputy Samuel Leonard, shared a video of the procession escorting Jones’ body on May 12.
Jones worked as a sheriff’s deputy for more than seven years and became a deputy in 2013. He also had at least two siblings, a brother, and a sister. He had four daughters and a son and shared a picture posing with his 4-year-old girl on Christmas 2020.
Jones was active on his Facebook page. He often shared posts supporting his local fire department, dispatchers, and fellow law enforcement officers. He also regularly shared public alerts from the sheriff’s department and police departments and routinely shared memorials for fallen officers.
He was an avid outdoorsman, fisherman, and hunter. He shared photos of group hunting trips and hiking trips, adventures with his family, and pictures with his wife, smiling. He shared several pictures of hiking trips with his family, often carrying his youngest daughter on his back.
Neighbors Recounted the Police Chase
Witnesses told San Angelo Live that the situation rapidly increased from the time deputies approached Nicholas in his vehicle to a gun battle that cost two deputies their lives. Eden City Mayor Pete Torres, who lives around the corner from Nicholas, was among the eyewitnesses to the deadly shooting and convinced Nicholas to surrender after about 30 minutes barricaded, the news station reported.
Several witnesses recounted the scene, with one saying the deadly situation began when officers conducted a traffic stop on Nicholas near his home. The witness told the news outlet they heard police talking to Nicholas, saying “Roll your window down and then put up your hands.” Instead, the driver fled, the witness said.
Soon after, there was gunfire, with nine or 10 gunshots and “people shooting back and forth…”
Another witness reported hearing the suspect yelling “Those aren’t my dogs. You are always harassing me and tasing me..,” the person told the news outlet.
Nicholas then shouted about his Constitutional Rights, witnesses told the news outlet.
Neighbors told reporters there are six dogs in the neighborhood “that are vicious that control the neighborhood.”
The suspect was arrested by Texas Rangers and booked into the Tom Green County Jail at 5:38 a.m. Tuesday, May 11, 2021, on a $4 million bond, $2 million for each count of capital murder of a peace officer, according to the county’s jail roster.
The Bodies of the Fallen Deputies Were Escorted
Fellow police officers mourned the loss of the two fallen Concho County sheriff’s deputies, writing condolences on their social media pages. You can watch a video of the full procession here.
Video: A procession arrived in Lubbock Tuesday morning with the bodies of two Concho County Sheriff’s deputies who were killed in the line of duty Monday night in Eden. An autopsy on both deputies will be performed here in Lubbock. pic.twitter.com/uDN39zj3ZT
— KLBK News (@KLBKNews) May 11, 2021
“We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the Concho County Sherriff Department on the loss of two of their deputies in the line of duty Monday evening,” the Lubbock Police Department wrote on Twitter.
Lubbock Police Department organized a procession to escort the bodies of the officers. Video of the procession showed a long line of emergency vehicles escorting the bodies.
“The Lubbock Police Department is heartbroken at the loss of two Concho County Sheriff’s Deputies who were killed in the line of duty Monday evening,” they wrote. Lubbock Police shared details of the route, and asked the public to “lift up the families, both blood and blue, of these two heroes.”
“When a police officer is killed, it’s not an agency that loses an officer, it’s an entire nation,” Officer Down Memorial Page Founder Chris Cosgriff wrote on the website.
The Officer Down Memorial Page said there have been 119 officers killed in the line of duty in 2021.
“Please pray for the families and friends of the two Concho County Deputies who were shot and killed in the line of duty last evening,” the National Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement on Twitter. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Concho County Sheriff’s Office.”
The Pflugerville ISD Police Department also sent their sympathies to the families.
“The Pflugerville ISD Police Department sends our condolences & prayers for peace and comfort to the families of Deputy Samuel Leonard & Sergeant Stephen Jones and our blue family at the Concho County Sheriff’s Office ~ Rest easy brothers, we have it from here,” they wrote on Twitter.