Dwight Lamon Jones

Dwight Lamon Jones was an American man whose later life became defined by prolonged legal conflict, social isolation, and escalating paranoia tied to a contentious divorce and custody dispute. Born in 1961, Jones lived much of his adult life in Arizona. Public records indicate that he was married and had at least one child, but the dissolution of his marriage marked a turning point that would dominate his behavior for nearly a decade.

Following the divorce proceedings, Jones became increasingly fixated on what he believed was a coordinated effort by mental health professionals, legal workers, and the Maricopa County judicial system to strip him of custody of his son. Court records and statements from his former wife later described him as emotionally unstable, deeply resentful, and persistently threatening. She stated that she feared for her safety for approximately nine years following the divorce and characterized Jones as a profoundly disturbed individual.

Jones’ instability was not limited to private grievances. In 2008 or 2009, he was arrested on allegations of domestic violence involving his wife and a child, reinforcing concerns about his behavior. After the breakdown of his family life, Jones lived transiently, staying almost exclusively in extended‑stay hotels for approximately nine years. During this period, he became increasingly isolated, estranged from stable employment and permanent housing.

In the days leading up to the killings, Jones intensified his online activity. He uploaded nearly ten hours of video and written material to social media platforms, outlining what he perceived as an elaborate conspiracy against him. In these posts, he accused psychiatrists, attorneys, counselors, and judges of falsifying evaluations and manipulating legal outcomes to deprive him of his parental rights. Less than a week before the shootings began, Jones publicly attempted to reverse the narrative of abuse, claiming that his ex‑wife was the true abuser and that he was the victim of institutional corruption.

The shooting spree carried out by Dwight Lamon Jones unfolded over six days between late May and early June 2018, primarily in Scottsdale and surrounding areas of Maricopa County, Arizona. The killings appeared targeted and methodical, directed at individuals Jones associated—either directly or indirectly—with his divorce and custody proceedings.

The first known victim was killed on May 30, 2018. The following day, on May 31 at approximately 5:20 p.m., Dr. Steven Pitt, a 59‑year‑old forensic psychiatrist, was shot and killed outside his office in Scottsdale. Pitt was a nationally respected expert who had previously examined Jones in connection with the divorce. Pitt had also gained prominence for assisting law enforcement in 2006 with identifying the Baseline Killer in Phoenix. His murder marked a chilling escalation and drew immediate public attention.

On June 1, 2018, at approximately 2:15 p.m., Jones entered the downtown Scottsdale offices of the law firm Burt, Feldman, Grenier and opened fire. Two paralegals, 48‑year‑old Veleria Sharp and 49‑year‑old Laura Anderson, were fatally shot. Sharp sustained a gunshot wound to the head and fled into the street seeking help before collapsing. She later died at a hospital. Investigators later confirmed that attorneys at the firm had been involved in Jones’ divorce proceedings. By late that night, ballistics testing confirmed that the same firearm had been used in the murders of Pitt, Sharp, and Anderson.

Just after midnight as June 1 turned into June 2, police discovered the body of 72‑year‑old Marshall Levine, a psychologist and counselor, inside his Scottsdale office. Levine had subleased the office from a woman who had provided counseling services to Jones’ son during the divorce case. Authorities concluded that Levine was not the primary intended target but was killed due to his indirect association with the custody dispute.

As the investigation intensified, law enforcement began surveilling Jones on June 3, tracking him as he drove through Fountain Hills in a gold Mercedes‑Benz. During this surveillance, Jones discarded a small bag containing a .22‑caliber handgun. While the weapon was later linked to a separate double homicide, ballistics testing ruled it out as the firearm used in the earlier shootings.

On June 4, 2018, police discovered the bodies of 70‑year‑old Mary Simmons and her 72‑year‑old husband, Bryon Thomas, inside their Fountain Hills home. Both had been shot and killed. Unlike the earlier victims, Simmons and Thomas had no known professional connection to the divorce case, though investigators believed they may have been acquaintances of Jones. Their deaths brought the total number of victims to six.

The decisive break in the case came when Jones’ ex‑wife issued a statement revealing that her current husband, a retired Phoenix police detective, recognized a pattern linking the murders to Jones’ divorce. He alerted the Phoenix Police Department’s violent crime unit on the night of June 2. Once Jones was identified as a suspect, investigators obtained a DNA sample from one of his relatives, which matched DNA recovered from shell casings at the crime scenes.

On June 4, as police closed in on Jones, he died by suicide before he could be arrested or interrogated. His death ended the shooting spree but left many questions unanswered, including the full extent of his planning and the precise motivations behind the final two killings. Jones was never formally charged or convicted.