UPDATED: 12/15 9:42 a.m.
On Friday morning, Peoria County Court Judge John Vespa ruled that 37-year-old Stephanie Jones’ guilty plea to first-degree murder charges for the death of her 8-year-old son Navin Jones cannot be entered into evidence in Brandon Walker’s murder trial.
The end of the trial including closing arguments is expected sometime on Friday.
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PEORIA, Ill. – One of the two people has testified in a murder trial surrounding the death of eight-year-old Navin Jones in a Peoria home last year, while the other has not – and that has created what could only be considered a mess.
Young Navin was found malnourished, some would say tortured, and in bad health prior to dying in a Peoria hospital in March of last year. Brandon Walker, 42, testified in his own defense Thursday afternoon.
Walker said he would spend upwards of 16 hours a day working as a tow truck driver and mechanic, and didn’t see Navin or his older brother that often, the last time says he saw Navin was two days before Navin’s death.
But, the summer prior, Walker said on a trip to Florida while he also worked towing vehicles after a hurricane, Navin and his brother looked to be in good shape. While Walker claimed in a January, 2022 conversation with an official from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services investigator, he was told Navin’s skin looked a little gray, Brandon wanted to get legal guardianship so he could make sure the children got medical care and could be enrolled in school.
Walker said he slept on the couch in a bedroom he and Stephanie Jones, 37, shared, sometimes not seeing the children at all. He claimed to have watched a movie with Navin on the Sunday prior to Navin’s death, and was shown a picture of what looked to be a very frail Navin with an injury above an eye, and started to be concerned.
While Walker claims Stephanie Jones did call Brandon to come home the afternoon Navin was taken to the hospital, Stephanie wouldn’t speak to him when he arrived.
Assistant State’s Attorneys tried to poke holes in Walker’s testimony – for example, what Walker testified to versus what he told a police investigator after the death – but that resulted in both Walker and his attorney Gary Morris being admonished for how Walker was coached to respond.
But the bigger issue is that after her guilty plea last week, Stephanie Jones did not testify against Walker, instead taking the Fifth Thursday morning.
Morris wants to enter Stephanie Jones’ guilty plea into evidence, prosecutors don’t, and the suggestion was made that since she didn’t live up to her end of the deal, Stephanie could end up pulling that guilty plea altogether, or prosecutors could. Judge John Vespa and both sides’ attorneys say they’ve never seen someone sign their name to a plea deal requiring them to testify, then plead the Fifth at trial.
The end of the trial including closing arguments is expected Friday morning. Both sides are expected to discuss the issue of Stephanie Jones’ guilty plea first, then review jury instructions outside of their presence as is standard. Closing arguments could happen after that, and then jury deliberations could begin, potentially before lunch.
