Charges: Man shot wife in Draper parking lot, threatened to kill her and sons in California

DRAPER — A man accused of shooting his wife while she was holding their infant son in a hotel parking lot and then forcing them to get inside his car had threatened to take them to California where he planned on killing them, prosecutors say.

Laterrial Desmones Jones, 33, was charged Monday in 3rd District Court with aggravated kidnapping, two counts of child kidnapping, two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, shooting a gun causing injury, and possession of a firearm by a restricted person. The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office has also added a habitual offender enhancement onto all of the charges, making all seven counts against Jones first-degree felonies.

On Thursday, Draper police were called to the Hampton Inn, 13711 S. 200 West, on a report of a shooting in the parking lot. According to witnesses and surveillance video, Jones shot at a woman who was carrying a newborn in a child seat as she walked away from him, police say. Jones then forced the woman, the infant and a 6-year-old boy into a car and quickly drove off, according to the charging documents.

Police found a blood trail from the sidewalk and driveway outside the hotel lobby doors to the parking stall where the group got into the car, the charges state. A shell casing was also recovered.

Detectives received authorization to "ping" the phone number Jones left with the front desk when he checked into the hotel and discovered that he was in the Elko, Nevada area. Nevada Highway Patrol troopers were able to spot Jones, pull over his vehicle and arrest him.

Draper police detectives interviewed the woman Monday. She said that she had been arguing with Jones about their 6-year-old son losing his phone and Jones then assaulted her, according to the charges. She said Jones then became nervous that police would be called so he told her and their two boys that they were leaving.

At one point, Jones yelled at his wife that she wasn't moving fast enough. "I'd rather be dead than go with you," the woman told him in response, according to the charges.

When the woman turned around to go back into the hotel, police say Jones pulled out a gun and shot her. He then walked to where she was on the ground, told her to get up and get in the car, the charges state. The woman told police that as she was putting her infant son in the car, she found a bullet casing on the top of the baby carrier. She left the casing on the pavement, hoping police would find it.

The woman suffered a gunshot wound that entered her left hip and exited her right hip. She told police that the group was headed to California and that Jones had made comments in the car "about killing her, their infant, their 6-year-old and then himself," according to the charges.

Prosecutors have requested that Jones be held without bail in the Salt Lake County Jail pending trial, noting that he and his wife have "an extensive domestic violence history." In 2016, Jones was convicted of assaulting her by hitting her on the head with a hammer, the charges state.

Jones has twice served prison time in California. In 2008 he used a gun during a robbery in Sacramento and served seven years in prison after being convicted, the charges state, and in 2016 he was convicted of domestic violence battery and intent to terrorize and was sentenced to a little under eight years in prison. Jones was on parole at the time of his arrest in Elko.

Utah Domestic Violence Coalition operates a confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic abuse hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online at udvc.org.

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