By Ana Ceballos
TRENTON -- Rasheen Jones left his home with his cousin Tuesday night for a trip to the local convenience store. The 10-minute walk was one he’d taken many times, but this time, Jones never made it back home with the paper towels he’d purchased.
Rasheen Jones, pictured here with his 7-year-old daughter, was shot to death on July 23 in Trenton.
He was shot in the head by an unidentified assailant, and by the end of the night he was pronounced dead.
Jones’ girlfriend Joann Fisher was at home with the couple’s two children when she received a phone call from Jones’ cousin saying Rasheen had been shot.
“I ran down the street knowing exactly where this alley was,” Fisher said. “I’ve walked that street every single day for four years to go to work.”
What she found was Jones, mortally wounded with little time left to live.
She held him, asking Jones to hold on as she dialed 9-1-1. Arriving paramedics were unable to save him as Jones gushed blood out of his mouth.
After being together for seven years, Fisher lost her partner to Trenton’s street violence, just because he was on his way to buy some paper towels at the local store.
“He wasn’t involved in gangs. He owned no guns,” Fisher said. “We would always be home watching movies and making dinner.”
The 31-year-old barber and father of three became Trenton’s 23rd homicide victim in 2013.
On Wednesday morning, the alley where Jones was shot was still sealed off by Trenton police investigating the crime. Police have released no descriptions of possible suspects and have not detailed a possible motive for Jones’ killing.
Police investigate the scene of Rasheen Jones' shooting death. (Photo By Ana Ceballos)
A couple’s home neighboring the alley was briefly searched for clues.
“I was taking a nap when I heard the bullets,” said the man whose home was searched. “But it’s Trenton, you always hear bullets. I never expected it to be right in my backyard.”
According to the man, who asked to not be identified, he heard the shot at approximately 7:30 p.m. when he awoke from his nap. His wife said she wasn’t able to sleep knowing that someone was killed just feet away from the home where they have lived for more than 20 years.
But according to Fisher and James Jackson, Jones’ co-worker at Mason’s barbershop, the city’s latest homicide victim was not a man working the streets. Instead, the friend said, he was a working man and a family man.
“They killed a working man!” Jackson said with tears running down his face. “I hate that he left us, but now he is at peace. All he was doing was taking care of his kids and they killed him.”
The third chair at Mason's Barber Shop, where Trenton homicide victim Rasheen Jones worked for 10 years, now sits empty. (Photo By Ana Ceballos)
For 15 years Jones worked as a barber, holding Mason’s third chair, which is now empty, facing two pictures in the mirror. One shows him smiling with his 7-year-old daughter and the other is a picture of his daughter and his 5-year-old son.
The 5-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter of Rasheen Jones, who was shot to death in Trenton on July 23. The photo hangs on a wall at Mason's Barber Shop, where Jones worked for 10 years.
Jones worked at Mason’s since 2003. He was a high school graduate and a loving father, Jackson said.
Every day, Jackson said, Jones would walk home for lunch. Living just a couple of blocks from Mason’s, his routine became working and spending time with his family.
Anyone with information regarding the crimes can call the Trenton Police confidential tipline at (609) 989-3663 or the Crime Stoppers tipline at (609) 278-8477.