Bio

Donald Jones was born on November 25, 1966. By the early 1990s, Jones was struggling with drug addiction, including crack cocaine use. His addiction became a central factor in the criminal case that later led to his death sentence. Jones was the grandson of Dorothy Knuckles, a 68-year-old woman living in Missouri. His family later described her as a religious woman and asked the state to spare Jones from execution, arguing that Knuckles would not have wanted her grandson put to death. Despite those pleas, the courts upheld the sentence, and Missouri Governor Matt Blunt declined clemency.

Murder Story

Around midnight on March 6, 1993, Donald Jones went to the home of his grandmother, Dorothy Knuckles, seeking money to buy crack cocaine. Knuckles allowed him inside, and the two went upstairs to her bedroom. When Jones asked for money, she refused and began criticizing his drinking and drug use.

Jones then went downstairs to the kitchen, picked up a butcher block containing knives, hid it behind him, and returned upstairs. When Knuckles continued lecturing him, Jones struck her several times with the butcher block. As she screamed, Jones picked up a knife that had fallen from the block and stabbed her repeatedly until she stopped screaming and collapsed onto her bed.

After the killing, Jones took Knuckles’ car keys, money, and VCR. He drove away in her car, bought drugs, sold the VCR, and rented out the car to obtain more money for drugs. Knuckles’ body was discovered on March 8, 1993, by her son.

On March 9, 1993, police went to Jones’ workplace to question him. He initially was not under arrest and agreed to go with officers to the homicide office. During questioning, Jones became a suspect, was advised of his Miranda rights, and admitted responsibility. He said, “It’s the monster inside of me,” explaining that the “monster” was crack cocaine. He then gave an audiotaped statement describing how he killed his grandmother.

Jones went on trial on June 6, 1994, in St. Louis. On June 16, 1994, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action. The jury recommended death for the murder and life imprisonment for the armed criminal action charge. On July 22, 1994, the trial court sentenced him to death.

Jones pursued post-conviction and federal appeals, but his conviction and death sentence were upheld. The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence on November 3, 1998, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied review on January 19, 1999. Later federal habeas challenges also failed.

Donald Jones was executed by lethal injection in Missouri at 12:07 a.m. on April 27, 2005. He was 38 years old. His final meal included chicken strips, coleslaw, fries, pizza, and apple crisp with ice cream. In his final written statement, he thanked his family, friends, and supporters, expressed love for his mother and son, and wrote that he was “going home to grandmother.”