Jury deliberating in Timothy Jones murder trial

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Friday, February 20, 2015
Jury deliberating in Timothy Jones murder trial
A jury is deliberating in the trial of Timothy Jones, who is charged with murder for his part in a Chicago police chase.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A jury is deliberating in the trial of Timothy Jones, who is charged with murder for his part in a Chicago police chase. Closing arguments took place all day on Friday, and a camera was in the courtroom to capture it all.

In May 2013, a police chase ended with an innocent woman killed as Chicago police pursued Timothy Jones, who was suspected in a home invasion.

"I picked up the shoe box, I looked and checked to see if there was money in it, and there was," Jones said. "I didn't get to count it, but it was a lot."

During the chase, the police SUV ran a red light with lights and sirens on and crashed into a car driven by Jacqueline Reynolds, 54. She was killed instantly.

During the proceedings, prosecutors said Jones, then 20 years old, broke into a nearby apartment and committed an armed robbery. Police were called and the chase began as Jones and two others tried to get away.

If prosecutors can prove that Jones committed the armed robbery and home invasion and that someone died as a direct result of those actions, he can be found guilty of first degree murder.

Jones' defense attorney says his client is innocent, and there was no gun and no home invasion. He says it was a debt claim gone bad.

"They have to prove that there is no reasonable doubt that Timothy has committed the crimes that they have alleged," said Kevin Spence, defense attorney. "Now we can go through jury instructions, listen to another three hours of evidence, go back through it. But we will never be able to get over the mountain of reasonable doubt in this case."

"They are responsible for everything that happened, from the time that the two of them began to walk down Ellis, into that home, until the last one of those confederates reached their place of safety," said Barbara Bailey, prosecutor.

Reynolds' family actually wants prosecutors to drop the murder charge against Jones.

This is the first full trial in Cook County with a camera in the courtroom.

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