Jeremy Bryan Jones was born on April 12, 1973, in Miami, Oklahoma. He was the older of two boys in his family. In the late 1970s, Jones' parents divorced. His mother later remarried, and the family was considered stable despite the changes. His stepfather worked as a carpenter, which provided the family with financial stability.

As a child, Jones showed signs of antisocial and aggressive behavior. Because of this, many neighbors avoided him. He did not care much about school and often got in trouble for skipping classes and receiving low grades. In the late 1980s, he began to drink alcohol and use drugs. By the end of 1989, he was expelled from Miami High School. He then went to Quapaw High School nearby but continued to skip school and eventually got expelled again in 1991, just before finishing 12th grade. These disruptive behaviors caused conflicts with his family.

In January 1990, Jones was arrested for assaulting a boy. During this incident, his mother tried to help the victim but ended up getting hurt herself. He was charged with two counts of assault, but those charges were dropped when the victims decided to reconcile. Despite his troubled behavior, Jones was known to be charming, especially among young women in his hometown. He had several relationships with them during his teenage years.

In early 1992, Jeremy Bryan Jones moved to Baxter Springs, Kansas, where he lived with a high school friend named Justin Judd. Just two days after Justin married his girlfriend Jennifer, an intruder broke into their home and murdered her. During the investigation, Jones was named a suspect because Justin claimed that he had shown interest in Jennifer. However, due to a lack of evidence, Jones was released.

After Jennifer's murder, Jones moved on to a life of crime. He was arrested for rape in November 1995, but he posted bail and fled. He was arrested again in January 1996 for additional rape charges and possession of methamphetamine. Jones was convicted for drug possession and served two years in prison. He was released on parole but was soon arrested again for rapes. He was placed on probation and was ordered to see a psychiatrist, but he refused to comply with these requirements.

By 2000, Jones became a suspect in two more rapes, prompting him to flee Oklahoma for Joplin, Missouri. There, he assumed a new identity after convincing a woman to sell him her son’s identity documents. Under this false identity, he moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In May 2003, he met Vicki Freeman, and they became roommates.

On September 15, 2004, Jones arrived in Turnerville, Alabama, to work on a construction job. He soon took advantage of the situation and used a .25 caliber handgun he found in the Bentley's house to commit murder. After consuming drugs and alcohol, he broke into the home of neighbor Lisa Nichols. He raped her and shot her three times. To hide his crime, he burned her body in the bathtub of her own home.

Jones fled the scene the next morning. However, police began to connect the dots shortly after discovering Nichols' remains. They found evidence linking Jones to the crime, including bullets that matched the murder weapon found in the Bentley’s house and fingerprints on a beer can left at the crime scene. He was arrested on September 21, 2004, in Mobile, Alabama.

Initially, he maintained his innocence but eventually confessed to the murder. His confessions included numerous details about other alleged murders across multiple states, but many of these were later called into question. He was ultimately charged with the murder of Lisa Nichols. During his trial, he attempted to recant his confessions but was convicted and sentenced to death in December 2005.

Jones has since remained on death row. His other confessions have faced scrutiny, and doubts remain about their truthfulness. Jones continues to insist that he was only involved in the murder of Lisa Nichols.