Teenager stabbed to death during July 4 festivities

Alicia Ammons, 19, of Monticello was convicted Friday by a Drew County jury of manslaughter and sentenced to ten years in the Arkansas Department of Correction in the death of 15-year-old Courtland Jones. She had been charged with first-degree murder after she plunged a bread knife into Jones’ neck during an altercation on July 4. Ammons was angry the teenager had allegedly shot fireworks and either almost struck or struck her infant.

Her father, Clarence Ammons, 48, who his attorney told the court is a convicted felon, was acquitted of aggravated assault in the presence of a minor. He had also originally also faced murder charges, but the charges were reduced pre-trial.

The jury (including two alternates who were released from their duties prior to deliberations) held a ratio of nine men/five women: 12 Caucasian jurors and two African-American jurors.

Courtland Jones and a group of 10-15 other boys were walking on Robin Hood Drive the evening of July 4, firing bottle rockets and roman candles into a yard where several members of the Ammons family had gathered for a barbecue. Several people and children were in the front yard of the house. When the boys, who Clarence Ammons’ defense attorney said ’were not just boys, they were a gang” shot fireworks into the yard, Clarence Ammons approached the boys and said, according to his attorney Steven Porch, “Would you stop shooting fireworks this way? There are children in the yard.” Jones replied that Ammons couldn’t tell him what to do, a few words were exchanged, then the group left and walked the street. At some point during this time, an 11-year-old relative of Alicia Ammons testified that Alicia Ammons was sitting in a truck in the driveway, listening to music, and shouted, “If one of those hit my baby, you’re head’s gonna come off.”

A short time later, the boys returned, and according to testimony by both a boy in the group with Jones and a friend of Alicia Ammons, one of the boys shot a bottle rocket into the yard as Jones began lighting a roman candle with a cigarette lighter, then pointed it towards the yard where the Ammons family was gathered and began firing. As sparks flew across the yard, some of the children were gathered up and taken into the house (although throughout the trial there was confusion and it was never determined who had taken Alicia Ammons’ infant son from her before the stabbing and where the child was during the the situation until more than three hours after the crime had taken place and Alicia Ammons was in custody; the child never received medical attention for being injured). Clarence Ammons went to the road and said, according to his defense attorney Steven Porch, “Why are ya’ll doing this? Stop!” One of the boys in the group testified they were being fired at by someone in the Ammons yard. Again, words were exchanged, and testimony was conflicting as to whether Clarence Ammons initially approached the boys with a butcher knife, or whether Alicia Ammons approached the group holding both the butcher knife and the bread knife that was used to kill Jones. According to Porch, Clarence Ammons took the butcher knife away from Alicia Ammons and stood in between her and the group of boys. There was also conflict in testimony as to whether Clarence Ammons, at any time before or after the stabbing, kicked Jones in the leg, face, or at all.

During the altercation, Clarence Ammons was punched in the nose by Courtland Jones, grabbed his face, dropped the butcher knife he said he had taken away from his daughter, and Alicia Ammons reached around her father and plunged the knife into Jones’ neck.

According to Porch, Clarence Ammons heard one of the boys say “She stabbed my homeboy”; he grabbed his daughter and pushed her back away from them, then fled with two other subjects in the truck Alicia Ammons had previously been sitting in. Alicia Ammons also fled the scene with her sister and a friend in a separate vehicle. Authorites stopped both vehicles shortly after being notified of the stabbing.

Monticello Police Sgt. Walter H. Hollinger testified that he found the butcher knife in the floorboard of the seat Clarence Ammons was sitting when the vehicle was stopped. A blood-covered bread knife was found at the scene. “I asked him what had happened and he said, “Fireworks were flying everywhere and a boy got cut,” Hollinger said. When Alicia Ammons was apprehended a few minutes later, Hollinger said she told him, “That son of a bitch almost hit my child with a bottle rocket.” He testified that she was still agitated, upset and yelling when officers took her into custody.

Deputy Prosecutor Zach Vaughn presented a majority of the case, with 10th Judicial District Thomas Deen assisting, and introduced witnesses, including: Arkansas State Police Special Agent Rick McKelvey, first responders, neighbors, and a nurse who treated Jones at Drew Memorial Hospital before he was transported to Arkansas Children’s hospital along with Officer Larry Smith Jr., who each testified that Jones had told them “Mott did it.” Alicia Ammons is sometimes known as Mott.

Circuit Judge Bynum Gibson presided over the case; Attorney Joe Mazzanti represented Alicia Ammons; and Porch defended Clarence Ammons.

The jury sentenced Alicia Ammons to the maximum of ten years for manslaughter; 1/6th of the sentence is mandatory, which is approximately 18 months, according to court officials. Ammons has already served close to six months in jail awaiting trial. She will give birth to a baby in a few months.

Awaiting word on sentencing Friday night, Jones' mother said of the conviction of manslaughter over first or second degree murder: "I broke down at first, but I'll just have to find peace with it. I'm okay. I just gave it to God. I just had to give it to God.

"I heard him," she said, "They wouldn't let me back there at the hospital, but I heard him through the door say 'Tell my momma I'm gonna be okay,'and I knew God would take care of my baby."

Walking up the steps towards the courtroom to await the sentencing phase of the trial, someone offered her a place on the elevator, "I can make it," she said. "I've gone this far, surely I can take a few more steps."
After Ammons, who had originally faced as much as life in prison, had been sentenced to then years for the manslaughter conviction, Circuit Judge Bynum Gibson informed Ammons of her sentence and asked her if she had anything to say for herself. Mazzanti spoke for his client and said no, she had nothing to say.
Gibson addressed Jones' mother and expressed condolences, then once again addressed Ammons, asking her repeatedly if there was nothing she'd like to say...."Do you show NO remorse?" She stood silently and stared back at Gibson. She was taken into custody and escorted by Drew County Sheriff Mark Gober to the Drew County Detention Facility.


~Story/photos were taken/written for and published with the permission of the Pine Bluff Commercial by Jayme Lawson~