Donte Jones
Self-confessed killer Donte Jones is serving a state prison sentence for slaying 36-year-old Levonza Thompson in cold blood.
A Superior Court judge sentenced Jones to 10 years of incarceration on April 12 for the first-degree aggravated manslaughter. Then Jones must serve five additional years of incarceration for being in unlawful possession of a handgun in another case unrelated to the homicide, records show.
Jones, 28, of Trenton, admits he shot and killed Thompson on Oct. 31, 2014. The Halloween homicide occurred in Trenton’s West Ward.
Police found Thompson lying on the ground in the 200 block of Coolidge Avenue suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Police recovered 10 shell casings and a live round from the crime scene, and Thompson later died at the hospital, authorities said.
Jones was out on bail on weapons offenses at the time of the shooting, records show. He posted 10 percent of $50,000 cash bail on April 25, 2014, and then killed Thompson several months later.
Originally charged with murder and weapons offenses, Jones pleaded guilty Feb. 14 to aggravated manslaughter. He received 1,617 days of jail credit for being in custody from Nov. 7, 2014, to April 11, 2019.
Jones is currently incarcerated at South Woods State Prison and is scheduled to be released in 2023, according to the New Jersey Department of Corrections.
Superior Court Judge Robert Bingham II sentenced Jones April 12 for his crimes in the homicide and unrelated weapons possession cases. In addition to confessing to manslaughter, he pleaded guilty to second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun in the other case, admitting he unlawfully packed heat in Trenton on April 18, 2014.
The homicide victim Thompson was the uncle of 23-year-old Naquan Ellis who was shot and killed in June 2014 at the North 25 Housing complex off of Calhoun Street.