Bio

Richard Wayne Jones was born on April 9, 1960, in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1971, Jones was placed in the custody of the Berean Boys Ranch. He was later returned home in 1974, but his parents brought him back to the ranch a few months later. In July 1975, after a theft offense, he was sent to the Gatesville Youth Facility, a Texas juvenile institution later described in defense materials as abusive. These same materials stated that Jones attempted suicide twice during his youth.

As an adult, Jones developed a criminal record before the murder of Tammy Livingston. Records cited by the Texas Attorney General state that he pleaded guilty to burglary in January 1978 and later had his probation revoked. In January 1979, he pleaded guilty to three counts of felony theft in Tarrant County and received a seven-year sentence. In August 1983, he pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and received another seven-year sentence.

Jones was released on parole in October 1985, less than five months before Livingston’s murder. At the time of the crime, he was 26 years old and living in the Fort Worth area. Texas execution records list him as the 229th person executed in Texas after executions resumed, with Tarrant County as the county of conviction.

Murder Story

On the evening of February 19, 1986, Tammy Livingston, a 27-year-old woman, was abducted from a parking lot in the Fort Worth area. State records said Jones followed Livingston as she left a Michael’s store at about 7:30 p.m. As she backed out of a parking space, he ran to the rear of her car, opened the door, and forced himself into the driver’s seat.

Later that night, between 9:20 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., a Fort Worth resident heard screams coming from a vacant property. At about 11:20 p.m., firefighters responded to a grass fire in the same area. There, they discovered Livingston’s burned remains. Authorities determined that she had been stabbed repeatedly in the face and neck. Sources differ on the exact number of stab wounds, listing either 17 or 19 wounds. The uploaded case material lists both numbers in different sections, so the safest wording is that Livingston was stabbed at least 17 times.

The day after the murder, Yelena Comalander, Jones’ girlfriend, was arrested while trying to pass one of Livingston’s checks at a Fort Worth grocery store. She told police that Jones had given her the checks. Livingston’s car was later recovered, and Jones’ left thumbprint was found inside the driver’s side front window. Police also found Livingston’s belongings, including her engagement ring and wedding band, at an apartment connected to Comalander.

Jones was arrested on February 21, 1986. An eyewitness to the parking lot abduction later identified him in a police lineup. Police also recovered clothing Jones had been wearing around the time of the murder, and small blood spots on his jeans were reported to match Livingston’s blood type. Jones signed a written confession admitting to kidnapping and killing Livingston, but he later claimed the confession was coerced.

At trial, Jones pleaded not guilty and denied killing Livingston. He claimed that Walter Sellers, a friend of his sister Brenda Jones Ashmore, was responsible for the murder and that he had only received Livingston’s property afterward. Defense and anti-death-penalty materials later argued that some witnesses linked Sellers to Livingston’s checks and credit cards. However, the prosecution relied on Jones’ confession, the eyewitness identification, his fingerprint in Livingston’s car, the victim’s property, and blood evidence.

Jones was convicted of capital murder in Tarrant County in July 1987 and sentenced to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in 1992, and the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on April 19, 1993. Later state and federal appeals were denied. The Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of federal habeas relief on April 7, 2000.

Jones continued to maintain his innocence until his execution. His attorneys sought a delay so additional DNA testing could be performed, but the request was denied. He was executed by lethal injection in Huntsville, Texas, on August 22, 2000.