It took the jury less than an hour to convict Jereme Lamond Jones of the 2021 murder of Randy Johnson at the Golden Nugget in Biloxi, Mississippi. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Quick verdict
A former high school and college football star from Alabama has been convicted of a 2021 murder at the Golden Nugget Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, a shocking killing that prosecutors described as an “execution.” The jury took less than an hour Thursday to find Jereme Lamond Jones guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Randy Johnson, a well-known Gulfport hairdresser and father of three.
You wouldn’t buy this story anywhere else in your life.”
“Our defendant is pursuing an unarmed man who is running from him, and he’s trying to tell you it’s self-defense,” Harrison County (MS) District Attorney Crosby Parker said in his closing argument. “You wouldn’t buy this story anywhere else in your life. You wouldn’t buy it to work. You wouldn’t buy it at home. Don’t buy it here. It is ridiculous.”
According to the Sun HeraldJones will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Murdered in cold blood
Golden Nugget security footage and witness testimony showed jurors exactly what happened on the night of September 18, 2021. Johnson was at the casino with his girlfriend Tamara Willis to celebrate her birthday. Jones arrived about an hour after them.
Jones then approached Johnson and asked if he wanted to “take it outside.”
Johnson and Willis were sitting at the bar and noticed Jones constantly looking at them. Jones then approached Johnson and asked if he wanted to “take it outside.” When Willis asked Jones what was wrong, he replied, “I don’t have a problem with you,” adding the homophobic comment that Johnson looked at him like he had “heels on.”
The two men went to the parking garage, where Johnson threw the first punches. The two fought and then Johnson pulled Jones “to the ground,” as he described it Sun Herald. Jones’ gun and holster fell off and Johnson ran back into the casino. He told Willis that Jones had a gun and kept running.
Johnson ran back and forth between the gaming tables, eventually tripping and falling. At that moment Jones caught up with him and shot him ten times.
Johnson was respected and loved by everyone
Randy Johnson, just a few months shy of his 42nd birthday, owned the CUTS hair salon in Gulfport. In a memorial, WXXV News 25 said that when he was growing up, the other boys in the neighborhood admired him and “wanted to be as cool as him.”
Andrew Grayer, a childhood friend, called Johnson “a really humble person.”
Randy acted cool to everyone. He was always smiling.”
“He owned a barbershop and all the kids loved him,” Grayer continued. “Randy was cool with everyone. He was always smiling. If Randy was having a bad day, he wouldn’t even show up. We are all still in disbelief. He was a good person that everyone was attracted to.”
Jacques Cox, another childhood friend, was devastated, especially because it was another incident of gun violence that left an innocent person dead. “…it was a complete misunderstanding and now his life is over. But in the meantime, I’ll just say some encouraging words for him and we’ll keep him alive. Everyone loved him.”
