BEAUMONT, Texas — A Jefferson County jury has found a Beaumont man guilty in the 2020 shooting death of a U.S. Marine at a Beaumont apartment complex.
The jury, after 30 minutes of deliberation, decided that Jirou Jerrell Zachere Jr. fatally shot Clifford Earl Jones, Jr., 24, of Beaumont, in July 2020 at the Jefferson House Apartments on Delaware St.
Judge Raquel West presided over the trial in Jefferson County's 252nd District Court.
On Jan. 11, 2024, Zachere was sentenced to 70 years.
On July 11, 2020, Clifford Jones, Jr., was shot and killed inside his apartment while laying in his bed. His girlfriend was also shot, but survived, according to a news release from the Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.
Initial investigation revealed four shots had been fired into Jones and his girlfriend's apartment through an outside window.
Several months later, following another shooting at the same apartment complex, police firearms examiners matched fired shells from both shootings, according to the release.
Zachere was identified as the shooter in the second incident and later confessed to shooting the wrong apartment when he murdered Jones.
Zachere told investigators he believed he was shooting into the home of his child’s mother, who lived in the second floor unit above Jones.
“Real world crime scene forensics solved this horrific and senseless crime and brought this violent rampage to an end. The family of Clifford Jones appreciates the verdict and sentence of the jury, and Jefferson County is safer now that this man is locked up," Prosecutor Luke Nichols said.
Jones' mother, Toneenya Green, told 12News at the time that it's hard knowing her grandson is growing up without his father.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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