Paramedic found Suffolk infant dead on floor, warrant says

SUFFOLK

A paramedic who responded to the home of Shawntay and Linwood Jones Jr. on Monday afternoon discovered the couple’s infant daughter lying on her back on the living room floor as the parents and others in the home screamed, according to court documents.

There was a “possible burn mark” inside the girl’s right ear and rigor mortis had already begun in the 11-month-old’s arms and legs, a search warrant filed in Circuit Court today said. Trash and food covered the kitchen floor and other parts of the house, it said.

Rescue workers were called to the home, in the 600 block of Third Avenue, around 3:30 p.m. Monday on a report of an unresponsive child, police said Tuesday. The infant was last checked on at 7 a.m., more than eight hours before she died, police said.

The Joneses, charged with three counts of felony child abuse and neglect, are scheduled to appear in Suffolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court at 9 a.m. Thursday for a bond hearing. They are being held at Western Tidewater Regional Jail.

Police on Monday seized a child’s cup, a Winnie the Pooh crib flat sheet, a bottle of liquid medicine, a bottle of infant Tylenol drops and two family portraits from the home, according to the search warrant. Child Protective Services removed two other children, ages 3 and 4, from the home Monday, police said.

Debbie George, city spokeswoman, said today that the house did not have running water or a functioning refrigerator. She said there was vomit on the couch and feces standing in the toilet. She said police were still awaiting results of an autopsy, which could take up to two weeks.

The family had lived in the worn white house on Third Avenue for about four years, said John Evans, a next-door neighbor. He called news of the girl’s death “shocking.”

They were “very good neighbors” who lived a private life, usually only speaking to say hello, he said. The older children sometimes played in the backyard. Evans would see Shawntay Jones on the front porch in the mornings with the older children.

“They seemed healthy, well taken care of, from my observation,” Evans said.

Evans said he never saw the little girl.