Ep. 394 - Prosecutor Michael O'Malley speaks to a mother who lost her 13 year old son

On this special episode, the tape is rolling while Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley talks to Melissa Jones, a mother of a 13 year old who was murdered in Cleveland.

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
This is the FCD Podcast Network.Welcome to a special edition of The out
Laws. This is Darvey O tokingpen Morrow. We're going to get right
into it because it's that important.As you see, we've opened the show

(00:21):
differently. This is what they calla cold open because we want to get
right to it. We were ableto record an interview that Cuyahoga County Prosecutor
Michael Maalley conducted with a woman bythe name of Melissa Jones. And Melissa's

(00:42):
son was murdered. He was underthe age eighteen. It's just a sad,
sad situation, and I think it'simportant to bring her perspective as a

(01:04):
mother who had to bury her youngchild. I think it's important to bring
her perspective to the table so peoplecan hear and understand where she's coming from
and hear the process of what shewent through. And you know, let
me tell you, this is agut wrenching our interview. You know,

(01:27):
there are times where it is justit's heartbreaking to hear what she's had to
endure. But you know, it'svery important. I think people need to
hear it because these are the storiesthat no one ever hears. You rarely

(01:48):
hear from the perspective of the victimswhen we're talking about issues of criminal justice
and things like that. And theperspective of the victims is important too,
And so we're going to get topart one of that interview right now.
You know, we had talked earlier, talked several days ago about tragic gloss

(02:14):
yours on JAMII and how certainly it'simpacted your life, and but you've are
a really unique position because you've seenthe criminal justice system from both sides.
First of all, why don't youtell us about the day that you lost

(02:38):
Jamori through senseless violence, you know, in our county, for really no
reason, and how that's impacted yourlife from that point forward. It was
December fourteen, twenty twenty. Italked to JAMAI like around four o'clock that

(03:04):
day. I worked third shift,so he called me when I got up,
and he was actually at my sister'shouse because of COVID and he's been
staying over there. And how wellwas he? He was thirteen thirteen,
Yeah, And I told him thatI would see him when I got over

(03:29):
there to drop my daughter off.And I got over there at seven,
a little bit after seven to dropher off so I can go to work.
I had to be at work ateight o'clock, and I didn't even
think to ask my sister anything likeI thought they were in a basement playing
video games. And so I proceededto go to work, and I get

(03:53):
a phone call at eight twenty atwork, eight twenty two exactly, I
can still remember the time from myyoungest daughter, who was eight at the
time, and she said, Mommy, something bad happened at Tremarian. I.
So I called my sister and Iasked my sister. I said,
I don't wanna use the language Iused. I said, where's my son

(04:16):
or what is going on? Where'swhere's my f and son? And her
response was good to Metro. Now, I s didn't know what happened.
I I didn't know that my sonwas shot and killed. I didn't know
none of that. They was justrushing me to get to Metro. And

(04:40):
when I got to Metro, therewas five homicides that I can standing there
and they put us in a roomand I started asking all different types of
questions on whose mother was who andthis, and and then they proceeded to
tell me that that my son wasshot and killed, that he was shot

(05:00):
in his head and then he didn'tmake it so and it was just I
was in shock at first, andI just told him, like, no,
you just didn't tell me my sonwas dead. And I demanded it
that they take me to see myson, like I'm gonna see my son

(05:23):
now. You didn't tell me myson was dad, And like I'm I
don't believe that. Take me tomy son now. And it just like
I I was just in a stateof shock. I'm not gonna lie.
The the hospital room got destroyed alittle bit because like I'm am staying of
shock and I was angry. Tomorrowwas my youngest son. He was thirteen

(05:46):
and I only had two sons andthey were born a day apart, and
life's been very hard. You haveto learn to adjust knowing that your child

(06:08):
is never coming back, and thatyou'll never see them, you will never
be able to raise them or seetheir accomplishments, or you wake up every
day and knowing that's the first thingyou got on your mind. Especially it's

(06:30):
been three years and that's still likethe first thing from when I wake up.
So I go to bed, thescreaming, like not understanding why why
it happened, or why it washim. It's it's like a mental fight

(06:53):
every day with yourself. You don'twanna believe your son, your your child
is dead at first, and thatwent on for a while, even through.
My brother called me to me,he said, you gotta decide what
you wanna do, and I said, I'm not doing anything cause my son's
not dead. I didn't wanna believehe was dead. And he said,

(07:17):
you gotta decide what you wanna do, and if you wanna bury him,
I said, no, my son'scoming home. So the most horrific thing
is to see your son, especiallythat young laying in a casket, lifeless,
and knowing that would be the lastthey ever see him again. So

(07:43):
it's been a very bad impact wentmental health with me. If I I
can have my ups and downs andI'll just you know, also half to
tell my son. I have ason that's an odys he's been there t
months before my son was murdered.Actually he was arrested ten months before my
son was murdered. And I havea son there doing juvenile life. To

(08:09):
have to tell my son on thephone that his little brother died and that
explained to him and knowing when hecomes home he'll never see his brother again.
How how many years apart were theyThey were two and a half,
like very similar age. Yeah,I had born a dead party. So

(08:33):
you've seen the system from both sides, yes, hm, Yes, And
tragically you've seen it from both sides, cause really you've got a son who
now is gonna be twenty, he'sgonna be twenty twenty, he'll gonna be

(08:54):
encorretrated it through how a department ofYouth services til he's twenty and you've lost
to thirteen year old child. He'llbe there to twenty one, and you've
seen a you've lost your thirteen yearold child forever. And so that you're
in a very unique situation that youhave seen the system from both sides.

(09:20):
And I don't know that there's atype of matter of fact, you're the
only parent I know that have seenthe system from both sides. And it's
hard because I can't even imagine tobegin to lose a child. But your
other child, who is an odysI think the best you can hope for
that as he's learned and he makeshimself a better man than when he went
in right, and do you thinkthat's happening. Yes, there's you know,

(09:45):
and we're not going used to We'renot go visit him. And especially
during COVID when they started opening visitsand stuff back up, they would always
like, thanks for coming. AndI was there faithfully, like every weekend
to see my son because he's myonly son I have left now. I
only had two sons and I lostboth of'em within ten months, apart

(10:07):
one temporarily and then one permanently.A lot of these kids in juvenile they
don't care because their their parents orfamily members aren't accept phone calls from them,
they don't come and see them,they don't have visitors, so it's

(10:35):
this is h th. They adaptto living like this from being outside t
in there and it they have nocare in the world. Some of them,
it does rehabilitate. Maybe it's fromthe households that they come from,
or they just don't wanna do itno more. But in order to better
yourself, you're gonna wanna cha change. You're gonna have to change, you
know, or it's gonna be arevolving door for you, or it's gonna

(10:58):
be death. Did you understand whenyou lost your son. Did you understand
the bindover process the individuals who shotand killed your son? I? Yes,
am sixteen and seventeen. I didbecause my son, who was fifteen
at the time when he was arrested, he was arrested for attempted murder and

(11:20):
I had to go through a buyingover process four days after my son was
murdered for him. So I understoodit and how it proceeds. Yes,
was it your desire for the individualswho murdered your son? Was at your
desire that they be bowled over andtried as adults for the homicide of your

(11:41):
son? Jami? Yes, Idon't Phil sixteen sixteen and I believe it
was sixteen and seventeen or maybe uhsixteen. I think one was fifteen and
one was sixteen. When they committeda crime. At that age, you
know right from law, you knowwhat you're doing, and you knew what

(12:05):
you were doing when you lured themdown there. You lured them down there
and applotted in aggravated robbery, Soyou knew when you fired that gun,
whether you thought it hit somebody ornot, you knew what you would do.
You was old enough to understand you'reold enough to know right from wrong,
and if you wanna commit a crimesuch as Hannis as that, then

(12:30):
you're old enough to be tried asan adult. This has been going on
for years. Why are they tryingto stop it now? Are they a
victim of a violent crime? Havethey've had their child murdered? Have they
have had a family member murdered ora family member in my situation to where
I have a child that was thirteenyears old, they had his whole life.

(12:52):
I had him. I'm still andhe's that from from a gunshow the
back of the head and an exitout of his face, and we wasn't
even aware of that til we gotto the funeral and seeing that, Yes,
so for what I've endured and mychildren have endured, and to know

(13:18):
that their sibling is the youngest boyat that is gone is like, you
know it, it's hard. Ihave kids in counseling. I've had kids
that turned to alcoholism. Yeah,I have grandchildren that doesn't will never even
know him, because I just hada grandson that will be a year in

(13:41):
March. We'll never even get toknow him. Like, it's it's not
easy. It's it's it's a process. You just over time, you just
learn to live with a little bitmore. But the pain and the stabbing,
like it never goes away. Okay, you know, but yeah,
I can tell you listen, youwill be living with that pain. I'm

(14:09):
sure the rest of your life iswill Jamorrowi's siblings m and While he will
be talked about and his memorable memorywill always be a positive thought in your
minds, the realities is that victimsof crime, like yourself, just wanna

(14:33):
seek justice. And you know,I know, Carson are a prosecutor on
this particular case at a tremendous job. I'm trying to fight for your family
and to fight for Jamori, andI wish I could bring him back,
and sadly we can't. But allwe can try to do is stop the

(14:54):
next JAMII from being the victim ofa homicide, especially at the young age
age of thirteen, which is reallyinconceivable. My understanding in this particular case,
they had already given up all theirpossessions and that they were driving away
from being robbed when the gunshot wentoff and struck your son in the back
of the head. And it's inconceivablewhy after somebody would rob somebody and they're

(15:18):
fling the area. Why somebody wouldfind the desire to fire a senseless shot
into an autobile that had just peopleleaving the scene, a car of victims
leaving the scene. And I justwant to thank you, first of all,
offer my condolences. Again, Iknow you are in constant contact with

(15:41):
people from our office, and likeI said, you've seen it from both
sides. You've got a son whoyou told me is doing really well in
odys He's got a welding degree,he's went to college, he's taken college
classes. So I'm optimistic that whenhe comes out going to have a son
who's not the same person he wentin. And I absolutely convinced that he

(16:06):
will do and make you proud whenhe returns home. And again, I
just want to offer my condolences toyour family. I want to thank you
for coming here today because you've beenable to express a situation that few people
have ever endured. And again,you've seen it from both sides, so

(16:29):
you understand the pain that goes withbeing a victim as well as being the
parent of an individual who was boundover and again, my goal and my
hope is that when he's there,he comes out a better man and buy
all accounts he is And so againI just want to thank you for coming.
Thank you. I just want tosay it is though my son doesn't
have a voice, and so Ihave to be his voice. And not

(16:52):
only that why they're trying to stopmind overs. Once they passed that bill,
juveniles cannot do it life sentence,so maybe they'll think twice about trying
to stop it. The boy willkilled my son comes home in two thousand
and forty one. He gets tocome home. So it's just like the
justice system did their job, Yesthey did, but still he gets He

(17:14):
gets to walk freight while my sonis this eased and doesn't have life no
more. Well, thank you fortelling that, because people are gonna hear
this and they're gonna understand the painwith which your family will burden forever.
I know that one day he'll walkout of person because with the Son of

(17:37):
bill that was passed, what isit, two fifty six, juveniles cannot
do a life sentence. So withthat bill being passed, he walks out
two thousand forty one, if notwith the Rogan Toolks Act two thousand forty
three or four, he comes home, so one day he gets to walk
freight And when your daughter who youindicate your daughter wants to be a law

(18:02):
enforcement officer US Marshall and she wantsto be a US Marshall. And if
there's anything I can do to helpor try to achieve that goal, I'd
be happy to do it. Andif she wants to shadow a US Marshal,
I'd be happy to see if Ican make that happen. But I
think that would be a really greatnote and something positive for your family to
really the fact that your daughter isnow motivated to become a US Marshal,

(18:27):
I think would be a wonderful story. Yes, she was already doing criminal
justice major before my son was murdered. She was in college. She had
to drive back from college that night, and she changed her major once my
son was murdered, and she wantedto be a US Marshall and did the
FBI program with them. So staytuned, we have more to come.

(18:49):
We'll be right back. Welcome back. We're going to get to part two
of this special interview. And I'mso grateful to everybody involved that we were
able to capture this this is obviouslysome powerful and important stuff. So as

(19:14):
we go into part two of theinterview, Melissa was asked about the possibility
at the time of the person whomurdered her son being able to plead to
juvenile life instead of being bound overand tried as an adult, and she

(19:36):
gives her reaction on how she feltabout the possibility of that when we go
to it, that's what you willhear her responding to we're going to go
to that right now? Absolutely not, because you're sixteen years old and you

(19:56):
took my thirteen year old son's lifeand you would all away in five years.
And it's just like, basically tome, you get away with it,
are you gonna go commit it againwhen you come home. It's not
enough time, Like to me,honestly, even prison's not enough time.
Like, you know, you getto wake up every day, you get

(20:18):
to call your family, you getto he he you get the ha ha,
you know, and on the otherside, the other family suffers that
loses their child, and it's justlike, we know what the judge that
he had she was very iffy aboutwhat she does with her cases, and

(20:42):
it made me angry because if thatwas the way it would have took.
It was just it it's just notacceptable. A life was taken here,
and I mean it took my son'slife. And for him to even think
about having to sit down and anodys to the age of twenty one and

(21:04):
then just to get the rock now, and it's just it's furious, and
it it's really furious. They goto odys and they come home within a
couple of months they're dead or theycommitted murders. There's been a child down
in juvenile I believe that was letgo at the age twelve years old on
an ankle monitor, cut the anklebracelet off and was involved in two homicides.

(21:30):
So they are starting young. It'scertainly in society that they they they
have no they have no remorse,they don't care. Have forty one juveniles
last year and in two thousand twentythree f forty one juvenile's church with aggravated
murder murder. But what is causingthis? Like? What what is what?
What is causing this for kids todo this? What what has turned

(21:53):
so dramatically probably like in the pastfive years for kids to be this reckless?
Why? Yeah, why you knows sadly, last year too,
we had thirty one juveniles who werethe victims of homicide, you know,
below the age of eighteen. It'sthirty one children, juveniles lost their lives,

(22:15):
and it's it's terrible. There's morejuveniles committing more crimes than probably more
adults right now. And it's justI hate to say this that I'm a
mother seven. They're reckless. Theyhave no care in the world nowadays,
none at all. They just theydon't care from committing from the car jaggings

(22:40):
to the aggrabay robberies to the murders. Like I just said, a twelve
year old committed too, how manyfives after he was letting go. It's
it's just ridiculous. I don't knowa couple of juveniles that have came home
and has ended up de ceased fromod wyas. They've been deceased, yes,
within a couple of months of themeven being really because they're back out
here doing the same thing all overagain. The one who shot my son,

(23:07):
I still remember what he said,and he says, I'm sorry for
your loss. I just wanna moveforward. That was that was his I'm
sorry for your loss. I justwanna move forward. I'm sorry for your
loss. I wanna move forward.That's what he said. That's what he

(23:30):
said. The other one. I'mgonna be honest. I wasn't allowed to
stay in the courtroom. I gotkicked out. Actually I got kicked out
on two court occasions. It's notfunny, but I mean your emotions,
like you know, your job asa mother's to protect and nourish and to

(23:52):
teach and to protect your kids.And I'm gonna say this, I haven't
always and I'm gonna go on therecord for this too with you. I've
been in the courtrooms plenty of times. I changed my life, you know,
before this even happened with my son. And how disrespectful those children are.

(24:15):
And you can ask Cerson it itstarts with the parenting. Neither one.
I I don't know what his statementwas before the second one was sentenced.
I got kicked out of the courtroom. And but the mother was just
she he had no chance of lifein it, and I hate to say

(24:36):
that some of these kids don't.And it's it's sad. I just couldn't
sit there and just let my childbe like everything be downgraded. And I
was furious. I was you know, my m emotions were going. It

(24:56):
was like my heart was beating fastlike I I just I I couldn't take
it no more, I j Ijust couldn't. So the second one,
I did get kicked out before theseven scene, and I did try to
go after the mother because I heardDr roger story remarks. So it was
like, you know, but andI see somebody, these kids ain't got
a chance of life. They justdon't because of the parents eves that I

(25:17):
have. So we've got to sThey've got to start with that too.
And look, you know, andI feel like if people are trying to
stop this, why don't you comeand where's the activities for these kids?
Why don't the communities start with thatfirst? Where's the activities? Where's something
for them to do besides social media? Right? And do you think social

(25:38):
media has had a lot I needI think they need to take it away
completely. I think they needed totake it away. Do you think that
really influences the general I think that'swhere it started from. Be honest with
you, I think that's exactly whereit started from. You you set the
these kids gotta go on there?And I prove a point to somebody,
it's all you see on there isyou know, guns, guns, guns,

(26:03):
guns, guns, guns. Thesekids, that's all you see or
what they're gonna do. And they'regonna do the you know. It's it's
like once got out do the otherone. And this is where it stems
from. I believe it is socialmedia. Right, None of this ever
s started until they brung social media. And and I believe ig is the
worst. Yeah, and I thinkI think it just become glamorized. Oh

(26:26):
yeah, it's I There is aafter my son passed away. I can't
remember the name of it, butit was about a girl in Chicago and
she was a straight A student andunder the sun she wa she was on
the right path. She got intosocial media and I believe she had seventeen

(26:48):
bodies by the time she was killedat the age of seventeen years old.
So you know what I'm talking about. It's the rush of social media,
is what it is. It itthey get the cloud, they chase the
cloud out is what they do.It's a cloud chasing thing. You have
some people that's an adult system prisonand we're just gonna say this. They're
in there recording themselves in the adultsprisons and putting it on social media because

(27:14):
they're chasing the clouds. This iswhat they're doing. So if you sent
a juvenile into odys and let themcome home, they're still gonna chase that
clock because social media is still gonnabe it's it's not gonna change it an
interesting perspective. Well, I cantell you I do believe it affects it.
But I just want to thank youfor coming. Her story is certainly

(27:37):
unique amongst the cases we've had.Sadly, we are seeing too many juveniles
losing their life and we're also seeingtoo many juveniles taking lives. And you
know, I am It's interesting.Was Mark Zuckerberger was in front of Congress
yesterday and they were really battering himfor the used to especially juveniles who were

(28:02):
receiving whether it's being harassed or becomevictims of sexual assault or violence, and
what they're doing or not doing tostop it. And it was an interesting
dialogue yesterday in Washington. And we'llsee how that ends up. But I
agree with you completely. I dobelieve social media is a huge part of
the problem. Can I say this, though my son was murdered of her

(28:25):
Instagram. If it wasn't for Instagrambeing there, the whole setup was through
Instagram. The whole setup was setup through Instagram. That's terrible. Well,
thank you, thank you for coming. Appreciate it. One more time.
I just want to say thank youto Prosecutor Michae O'Malley. Of course,

(28:45):
thank you to Melissa Jones. Condolencesonce again to her and her family
and everybody that was impacted by theloss of her son, and just just
a horrific, horrific incident. Andyou know I'll be praying for her and

(29:07):
her family. All right, Thankyou for listening. We'll see you next
time. Peace. This has beena presentation of the FCB podcast Network,
where Real Talk Lives. Visit usonline at fcbpodcasts dot com.