MANSFIELD — “Oh my God, that’s him.”
According to Mansfield Police Department’s Detective Richard Miller, those were the words of his confidential informant the day he and Sergeant Kenneth Carroll arrested Austin Jones — the alleged killer of Cedric Daniels, 25, of Mansfield.
Jones, 21, is charged with murder, attempted murder, felonious assault and having a weapon under disability in connection with the shooting death of Daniels on Nov. 3 at 112 Cleveland Ave.
Miller was called to testify Tuesday by Assistant Prosecutor Omar Siddiq. The jury had already heard from numerous witnesses. Different pieces of evidence recovered from the night in question were also presented, including a Kahr CW45 pistol, three empty .45 caliber bullet casings and four bullets without a casing.
But Miller’s testimony of how he and Carroll came to identify, locate and arrest Jones captivated the jury’s attention.
“I was in bed when I got the call,” Miller remembered.
He was called by Carroll, who advised him to travel to the hospital to question Brianna Daniels — Cedric’s sister and Jones’ girlfriend who had just been shot. From his interaction with Brianna, Miller learned she had been shot by someone named “Julio.” She soon clarified it was Jones, her boyfriend, who had done the shooting.
“She had abrasions to her hands, knees and face, along with the gunshot wounds,” Miller said, a detail that corroborated with Travis Daniels’ testimony given earlier Tuesday. Travis, Cedric and Brianna’s first cousin, said he witnessed a fight between Brianna and Jones at the American Legion bar on Harmon Avenue before the shooting incident on the same night.
The following day, Miller said he approached Brianna in the hospital to have her identify Jones by showing her a series of photos.
“She got excited when she saw his face and said, ‘that’s him,’” Miller said to the jury.
Miller then used his confidential informant, a witness that testified in court last week and was also with Brianna, Jones and Cedric the night of the incident, to relay text messages to Jones.
Jones was still at-large, nearly three days after the shooting that left Cedric dead and his girlfriend wounded.
Siddiq produced photocopies of a text messaging exchange the confidential informant and Jones had. The text message exchange was monitored by Miller and Carroll.
“Our main goal was to locate him (Jones),” Miller said. “Austin wanted a ride to Indianapolis so he was asking (the confidential informant) for a car.”
At this point, Miller said he and Carroll were working with the United States Marshals Service to locate Jones — their primary suspect. Jones’ location began with a vague Columbus location and ended with a specific address on Fifth Avenue in the state’s capital.
“We stalled the conversation as long as we could so we could have a plan set in place before we went to get him,” Miller said. “Our main concern was (the confidential informant’s) safety.”
Miller, Carroll and the confidential informant drove to the specific address. The US Marshals drove unmarked vehicles. When they arrived after an hour’s drive, Jones sent the confidential informant a text message.
‘Turn left and park behind the silver car,’ it read.
The confidential informant followed directions. The two detectives crouching behind the front seat, waited.
“A quick moment later she said, ‘Oh my God, that’s him.’ The excitement in her voice was enough for me,” Miller told the jury, describing his next move.
He alerted US Marshals of Jones’ location on a house porch. They moved forward, weapons locked, loaded and aimed at their suspect.
After Jones identified himself, the arrest was made.
“We got him,” Miller said, concluding his testimony.
Judge James DeWeese called for a 10 minute recess after the testimony. However, when he returned, he dismissed the jury members, apprising them of Wednesday’s schedule.
“The prosecutor’s office has three additional witnesses, which we’ll hear from tomorrow morning,” he said.
DeWeese said he expects to hear closing arguments at some point Wednesday afternoon after the the three witnesses and the defendant’s defense. The jury will discuss a verdict Wednesday evening.
