Dwight Lamon Jones

Megan Hutchinson

Staff Reporter

Last week, The Eagle’s Eye Newspaper covered a case in our home state of Arizona. This week we are back with another one, happening in our own city of Phoenix. Dwight Lamon Jones, a seemingly average man, married with a son, that one day snapped and killed the people involved with his divorce. Jones had begun a killing spree in the summer of 2018. The deaths of those around him were all connected to his divorce from his wife, Connie Jones in 2010.

Connie and Dwight Jones had married in 1988 after Connie had finished her first year of medical school as she was pursuing a career in psychiatry. Dwight was in the military and after Connie had obtained many achievements; he dropped out after three years. Connie was upset by his lack of ambition and motivation. However, Connie began to notice mental health changes and behavioral differences in her husband. He would experience frequent mood swings followed by verbal and physical abuse. Connie threatened Dwight with a divorce, after begging her to stay, she did. Following the incident, in 1997 their son was born.

In the years to come, Dwight’s behavior continued and even worsened. In January 2009, Dwight was charged with harassment after assaulting the administrator. Also in 2009, Dwight physically assaulted Connie in front of their son. During the divorce, Connie was ordered to contribute financial support. Allegedly during the divorce, Dwight had attempted to kidnap their son and sent death threats to Connie. Also in the months during their divorce, Steven Pitt, a psychiatrist, was ordered to make a blunt assessment of Dwight’s mental health. According to Pitt, Jones would unravel if he did not seek help. His predictions were correct and on Thursday evening, he went on a four-day killing spree of four people included in the divorce and two who were not connected.

Jone's first victim was his evaluator, Steven Pitt. One day following the murder of Pitt, Jones moved on to his ex-wife’s lawyer. Luckily, she was away from the office. But sadly, two paralegals, Veleria Sharp and Laura Anderson were killed. That same day, Jones killed Marshal Levine. Levine was not involved in the divorce but was renting space from a psychiatrist involved in treating his son during the court proceedings. That following Sunday, Jones had killed a man and woman in their home in Fountain Hills. Neither of their identities has ever been released and authorities are unsure if they were ever connected to the divorce.

The killing spree had ended that Monday after police surrounded Jones in his hotel. But instead of walking out in handcuffs, he left in a body bag. Jones had committed suicide at the age of 56 with police surrounding his hotel. He never received mental health treatment.