AURORA | An Aurora man who shot a cashier while robbing a trio of local liquor and grocery stores in 2018 has been sentenced to five decades in prison, according to the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
An Arapahoe County District Court Judge recently sentenced 24-year-old Stephen Jones to 50 years in prison after jurors last year determined he was guilty of a dozen different charges, including attempted second-degree murder, aggravated robbery and assault.
Investigators determined Jones was armed with a handgun when he robbed two liquor stores and a grocery store over a single 24-hour period in mid March of 2018.
Jones first robbed Aurora Plaza Liquors in Del Mar shortly after 8 p.m. March 15, 2018, according to an arrest affidavit filed against him. He bought a 200-milliliter bottle of Courvoisier cognac before threatening the cashier with a snub-nose revolver, telling the clerk, “I’m gonna f*** you up. Give me it all,” according to the affidavit. He made off with about $1,000 in cash.
Shortly after noon the next day, Jones robbed Dandy Discount Liquor in a plaza near the intersection of East Mississippi Avenue and Peoria Street. He again threatened the clerk with a handgun before demanding cash. Authorities estimated he stole about $535 worth of cash and booze, including several more bottles of cognac and a pack of Newport cigarettes.
About two hours later, Jones entered the Village East Grocery Store at 1161 Peoria St. and pistol-whipped the clerk before shooting her in the leg. Jones then fled into the parking lot where he was confronted by an employee of the adjacent Fade N’ Shave barbershop, according to the affidavit.
The barbershop employee had retrieved his own handgun from his car before confronting Jones, officials said. As Jones was rummaging through the employee’s car, the barber fired multiple shots at Jones, striking him in the left side of the head.
The grocery clerk, who police said “appeared very emotional and traumatized” after the shooting, called the barbershop employee “a hero,” according to the affidavit.
Jones then ran away from the scene. A short time later, police found and arrested him on a nearby park bench at 10801 E. Garden Drive.
Jones was found with an empty handgun and several hundred dollars of cash covered in blood. He had also wrapped his head in a towel and told police he thought he was dying, according to the affidavit.
Doctors later determined Jones had bullet fragments in his skull and would likely be permanently deaf in his leaf ear as a result of the shooting.
Jones didn’t have any formal identification on his person when he was arrested, though investigators later found a piece of paper in his pocket with the name “Stephen Jones” written on it, according to the affidavit.
Police later suspected Jones’ involvement in the robberies by combing through surveillance footage and matching a tattoo of the word “Denver” on Jones’ left hand.
Jones, who police believe was affiliated with the 52 Hoover Crips street gang, later admitted to the robberies, telling police “he just needed money. He said that it was spur of the moment and just happened,” according to the affidavit.
Jones was on parole and living in a halfway house when he was arrested, according to the affidavit. He had been arrested multiple times in the past on charges related to, inter alia, burglary, trespassing, possession of a weapon on school grounds and felony drug possession.
“Over the last decade this defendant has continued to escalate his criminal behavior, showing no regard for the law or safety of others,” Garrik Storgaard, one of the two district attorneys who prosecuted Jones, said in a statement. “While on parole, he was supposed to be reintegrating into society from his latest prison sentence. But instead he took that opportunity to victimize more innocent people and nearly killed one of them.”
George Brauchler, district attorney for the 18th Judicial District, pilloried state officials for tolerating a justice system that allowed Jones to be on parole in the first place.
“Another multiple-time convicted felon is allowed back onto our streets through a parole system focused more on emptying our prisons than protecting the public,” Brauchler said in a statement. “The result is a violent spree of armed robberies that ends in gunfire … of course, this repeat felon gets a gun. As our legislature continues to lessen the consequences for criminal conduct and to find ways to find ways to keep offenders — even repeat offenders — in our neighborhoods, Coloradans should know that our system lacks the resources to adequately supervise them.”
Jones is currently incarcerated at the Fremont Correctional Facility, according to state records. He has a parole hearing in May.