True Crime All The Time - Steven Jones

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

Steven Jones was a freshman at Northern Arizona University. In October 2015, he was involved in a confrontation that turned violent. It ended with Steven killing another NAU student and injuring three more. Steven claimed he acted in self-defense because he feared for his life, while prosecutors argued he shot the students in a premeditated rampage because his pride was hurt. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Steven Jones. There were conflicting stories on each side, which made this case very tough for investigators. Was Steven Jones justified in his actions because he was fearful for his life, or did he commit cold-blooded murder?You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 445 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson and with me as always is my partner in True Crime, Mike Gibson. How are you? Hey, I'm doing good. Well, I hope you are, man. We took a week off. It was nice. I know I'm refreshed.

You said you were. We talked about it at length on our Patreon minisode. Yeah. But a trip to Greece, man. It was good, man. It was really nice. the food. The food.

You raved about the food. Yes. Food was so good. A little drink. Yeah. A little bit. I mean, you're not a huge drinker. Maybe I'm on vacation.

I drank a little bit more than I normally would have. Yeah. Felt pretty good. That's good. You're on vacation. Exactly. Plus, I think if you want to fit in with the locals over there, you know, you got to partake a little bit.

Exactly. They're like party people. They know how to drink. They do. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shout out. We had Kelly. Hey, Kelly. Tish Lynn Anderson.

Well, thanks. Tish Lynn. Barbara J.K. What's going on, Barbara? Jamie Klein. Hey, Klein. Nicole Oak Leaf. What's going on, Oak Leaf?

Rita Flora. Hey, there's Flora. Bill Dunn. What's up, Dunn? Jesse Wolfson. Hey, Jesse. And last but not least, Charlene Byrne. What's going on, Charlene?

And then if we go back into the vault. This week, we selected Krista Cardin. Cardin from the PRON. from the Pierre Cardin. That's all I'm just saying. So we appreciate the new support, the continued support we always do. We also have a brand new episode out right now

on true crime all the time unsolved where we're tackling a really big unsolved case. And we're headed to Spain to talk about the case of the Alcasser girls, you know, made headlines not just throughout Spain, but, you know, really around the world. It's a big case.

It is. It really is. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into this episode of true crime all the time? I am so ready. We're talking about Stephen Jones. Stephen Jones was a freshman at Northern Arizona University. In October 2015, he was involved in a confrontation that turned violent. It ended with him killing another student and injuring three more.

Stephen claimed that he acted in self-defense because he feared for his. his life, while prosecutors argued he shot the students in a premeditated rampage because his pride was hurt. Okay. So a lot to dig into here. Stephen Jones grew up in Glendale, California and was homeschooled. He played multiple instruments and was interested in photography, hunting, and guns. His father ran a gun supply business, according to the Arizona Republic. And, you know, maybe that helped fuel. his interest in guns. You know, his dad's running a kind of a gun business. I'm sure there were a lot of guns that they either owned or had access to.

So they went hunting. But it was said that, you know, Stephen posted photos of himself with guns on his Instagram. And to me, I know people do that, but it always seems strange to me. Yeah. Almost like a harbinger of something.

bad to come. And maybe that's because we're talking about it in murder cases. I don't know, but I know it's something that I probably would do. Yeah, I don't think I would either. Now, if you were an Olympic shooter. Yeah. Or something like that, I could see someone posting a photo of themselves where they're holding a gun because that's part of their sport. Right. But just you were in your bedroom holding a gun and you're going to post a gun. You're going to post a gun. You're going to host that social media? I don't know. Seems strange. It does. It does to me.

Stephen was also interested in cars. He had a number of driving violations in Phoenix area courts. I know you don't have a huge interest in cars as far as like, you know, speed or fancy or, but you

have had over the years quite a number of driving violations. I remember, you know, being the passenger seat one time, opened up the glove box, and it was like a jack in the box. Just violations just shot out like a jackpot on a slot machine. I have been through several different insurance companies, yes. And had to take a number of mandated driving courses.

Maybe so, yes. I thought it was optional to pay those tickets. I didn't realize that it was mandatory that you pay show up. because most governmental agencies don't really care if they get their money or not. What's the chances of me going back to that municipality anyway, you know, but I guess they can call the municipality where you live and send them to the state and all that kind of stuff, you know. The moral of this story is just pay your ticket. Pay your ticket.

In July 2014, the parents of Stephen's girlfriend obtained an injunction against him for harassment. he was 17 at the time, and his girlfriend was 16. Stephen didn't follow their agreement, that he would only see her when they were present. The affidavit stated that the girl ran away to his house. She admitted to having sex and smoking marijuana and cigarettes there. The parents tracked her down with a GPS device and found a phone Stephen had given her. The court forbade Stephen to see her or go near her. president. Forbade. Forbade. Very strong word. It is a very strong word. But if you're not supposed to be

with this girl, right? I mean, there's a court order. Why are you breaking that quarter? Is it just one of these Romeo Juliet kind of things where the love is stronger than the law? Well, it could be. But, you know, they wanted them to only be together when they were present. That makes sense why they'd want that. Not unreasonable. No. But, you know, here we're also in the, the time frame where, you know, you have some GPS options to track people down. And that's what they used.

By August 2015, Stephen had moved to Flagstaff, Arizona to start his freshman year at Northern Arizona University. He was a pledge with the Sigma Chi fraternity on campus. What was that? Fraternity you a pledge to. Lambda, Lambda, Lambda? Yeah. Fun time. A peer instructor who taught a class on adapting to college

described Stephen as miserable, but making progress with adjusting. Stephen told the instructor he had anger problems and slammed the door when she kicked him out of class for being on his phone. Okay. Sounds like definitely some anger issues there. Yeah.

I mean, I don't know that it's all. all that uncommon for, you know, kids as freshmen to have trouble. You know, it's, it's a, a new journey. Yeah. Sometimes it can feel lonely, you know, in the beginning until you start to make friends and things like that. So that part, being miserable, that doesn't concern me too much, but this, the anger problems do. Yeah. Now, Stephen's attorney would say this was just a momentary exchange, Stephen was getting all A's and doing fine at the time of his arrest. And let's face it, you can be a straight A student and still have a ton of problems. Absolutely.

On October 8, 2015, Stephen and three other Sigma Chi pledges studied for their entrance exam. To the fraternity at the campus library, he was with Shane McConnell, Jacob, Mike, and Hunter Todd. Around midnight, they decided to go to a party at the Grove, an off-campus student apartment complex. The Arizona Republic reported that it was Hunter Todd's idea to go. Stephen and Hunter had only known each other for a few weeks. In a later statement, Hunter described Stephen as cocky with the ladies, but otherwise a cool guy. Pretty cool guys.

It's a little cocky with the ladies. What does that mean? Cocky with the ladies. maybe overconfident. Well, you could be cocky and have no success with women at all. Very true. Or you can be cocky because you're good looking and, you know, women are attracted to you. I don't know what to make of it.

It's kind of a vague statement. It is a little bit. Now, Stephen was the driver that night. He decided to park next to the Mountain View dorm on campus because there was limited parking at the grove. The party was about a third of a mile away from Mountain View. They stayed at the grove for about an hour playing video games. Stephen, Shea, and Jacob admitted to taking sips of beer or taking hits off joints. Sips of beer. I don't know any college kid that just took sips a beer. Yeah, for me it was either nothing or a whole 12 pack.

I had, there was very little in between when I was in college. I could see you shooting a lot of beers. Yes, I did a lot of beer bongs. Yeah. At one point we lived on the third story of our dorm and we had a built a three-story beer bomb. I have a feeling there was a lot of bongs in your college days. Now, marijuana was never my thing.

No. Has never been. Just the beer? Beer, though. I will admit, also tequila and some other things. Just a little chaser with beer. Just a little hydration. Yeah.

But, you know, this admission, we, yeah, we took a few sips of beer. I'm with you. That doesn't kind of ring true. Yeah. However, it should be noted that Stephen's blood screen came back negative for alcohol and cannabis. Now, he was the driver. So maybe that had something to do.

with it. The group decided to go home and started walking along Franklin Avenue to get back to Mountain View Hall. Around 1.20 a.m. on October 9th, when they reached the courtyard apartment complex on Franklin, they realized their friend Hunter Todd was no longer with them. They lingered on the sidewalk between the front building and the alley, which leads to a patio between buildings, and they tried calling Hunter. There was a Sigma Kai party party. going on at this complex, Hunter had stepped inside the party, but his friends hadn't found him yet. Kind of wandered off on his own. Yeah, which, let's face it, who hasn't had that happen, whether it's at college or you're

just out, you know, bar hopping with friends, you know, when you're in your late teens, early 20s, and somebody gets lost. Yeah. That seemed to happen quite a bit. And there's a lot of reasons for that. number one intoxication sure and you know I can remember some of my friends sometimes meeting someone and you know they they go off to do whatever people do and I'll be back buddy I got to go with uh no they don't they don't say anything they just go you just you have no idea where they win but

you later find out that they met someone that's called the hookup could be could be but there was a second party in an apartment on the other side of the patio in the back building, which was hosted by the Delta Chi fraternity. This party was winding down. According to some residents, witnesses also told the police that unwelcome partygoers were turned away earlier, and an argument broke out. Stephen and his friends might have been mistaken for the same group of party crashers, but they denied going to the courtyard before or trying to enter the the party. The altercation also might have been caused by a prank. Well, there is a lot of pranks going on at college, too. There's a lot going on in college, right? I mean, that's kind of the thing.

You're finding out who you are, you have this kind of new freedom for most people, freedom that you've never had in your life. Oh, yeah. And it's not uncommon to want to crash a party. I mean, typically it's free beer, right? They got kegs everywhere. Sure. And, you know, who doesn't want free beer when you're on a college budget? Yeah, beer's expensive when you don't have a lot of money. Shane McConnell told the police that Jacob Mike rang an apartment doorbell and told them to run.

When the police asked Jacob about this, he acted as if he had never heard of it. Either way, a confrontation ensued when people from the party came outside and saw Stephen and his friends. There was a shouting match that involved cursing, but both sides disagreed to how aggressive the Delta Chi fraternity brothers were and whether Stephen and his friends were defined. The confrontation made its way from the courtyard to the front side of Mountain View Hall. One of the party goers ran up and punched Stephen Jones, which knocked the dental bridge out of his mouth and also knocked his glasses off. Stephen ran to his vehicle in the Mountain View parking lot and retrieved his 40 caliber Glock 22 from his glove box,

then walked 90 feet to confront the group. Now, he would later say that he thought they were still menacing his friends. But two men charged him and he fired because he thought they were going to tackle him. The shots killed 20-year-old Colin Brown and injured 20. 20 year old Nick Piring. Colin and Nick were both members of Delta Cod and were roommates at the courtyard. So we have kind of a, you know, a lot going on. We have some people who have been drinking. Yeah. We've got kind of two sides or two groups of people who get into an altercation. It sounds like Stephen got punched to the point where, you know, his glasses got knocked off. His

Dental Bridge got knocked out of his mouth. And he decides that he's going to his car to get his gun. To show he's not to be messed with. Well, that's the reason. Why do you go and get a gun? And go back to where you just came. And go back. Because you have a number of options in a situation like that.

Sure. You know, you can get your friends and just get the heck out of there, get in your car, and leave. Right. He doesn't do that. No. He goes and gets a firearm, comes back and ends up killing one person, injuring another. So I mentioned it, right? We have alcohol.

Sure. Alcohol and firearms don't mix at all. And I think the mere fact that, you know, he went and got this gun, what's it going to do? Is it going to de-escalate the situation? And maybe he thought it would. or is it just going to up the chance that something really bad is going to happen? It depends on the other party, right? I mean, if they've been drinking, you know how you are when you drink.

Sometimes you think you're invincible. You're 10 feet tall and bulletproof. That's right. As one of the country songs, I think, would say. Yeah. A neighbor of Colin and Nick was Nick Prado, who was also present during the altercation. Other witnesses said, Colin Brow was only walking towards Stephen, not charging, and Nick Piring was running to

Colin to try to calm him down. As Stephen tried to give aid to Colin, he claimed he was jumped by the crowd. Several witnesses described trying to subdue Stephen and take away his gun. Stephen said he believed that if they took his gun, they would shoot him and kill him. So he started firing blindly into the air. And some of the bullets wounded 20-year-old Nick Prado and 20-year-old Kyle Zintet. Stephen's friend Jacob Mike called 911. He told the operator that someone was attacking his friend. Stephen's voice can be heard in the recording.

He said, per the Arizona Republic, he tried to hurt me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. The call ended abruptly. Mike told the police he hung up so he could pull people off Stephen. Mike said in a later interview that at least one person possibly more jumped on top of Stephen after he shot some. So again, let's, you know, unpack some of this. You have a guy with a gun.

He's already shot two people. Yeah. One of those individuals is dead. Is it surprising that someone or multiple people might try to stop him? No, it's not surprising. thinking he's going to start shooting everyone. Yeah. So you're trying to get a hold of them and get the gun away and, you know, calm the situation.

But, you know, as Stephen has said, from his point of view, he felt like, well, if they got the gun, they were going to shoot him. Yeah. So in his mind, he thought, I just got to start firing. And he did shooting, you know, two more guys. But I think the key for me here is, you know, exactly how did this go down? Because you know it's going to come up later in court. Of course it is. Right.

What was the state of affairs? Especially if a self-defense type of situation or scenario is going to be mounted. Was he in fear for his life? And at what point before he fired the two shots, the first two shots? the first two shots or after people jumped him and he started firing blindly. Yeah. You know, all of that's going to have to be broken down. Another young woman also called the police at the time of the shooting and said one of the

victims was her boyfriend. A third call was made by someone inside a residence near the crime scene. The student said, there's a guy outside and he's shooting people. We're at Mountain View. he has a gun he shot people and he's yelling right now and i'm reasonably sure gibbs that there would be a lot of phone calls right going into 9-1-1 especially if this is occurring outside of an apartment complex you're going to hear those shots absolutely you are and people are going to be worried they're going to start calling the authorities but do they know what they're seeing aside from

a guy with the gun yeah i think they're going to think they might see what they see, but if you're not out there, they might think they know what's going on. But if you're not out there, how do you really know? Well, you certainly probably don't know the context of everything that has occurred up to that point. The only thing you know is what you can actually see in that moment. Officers responded to the call about a confrontation between student groups that resulted in multiple shots fired. The responding officer reported that he heard screaming about a fight.

When he arrived, someone stated that their friend was a psychopath. Okay. Another responding officer saw a man with a bloody mouth approaching. He told the man to raise his hands, then ordered him to get on the ground. This man was identified as Stephen Jones. He complied with the officer's instructions and was arrested. He did not have his gun on him when he was handcuffed. Another officer found it near the victims. So, I mean, he didn't go out in a blaze of glory. He didn't, you know, defy the police. It doesn't sound like it. And why is that? Is it because in his mind, he thought he was justified of doing what he did? I think that's what he's telling himself. A search of Stevens vehicle in the parking lot turned up a gunbag, holster,

and backpack with three magazines. Seems like a lot of extra stuff to have for a night out on the town. Yeah, I mean, I don't have a Glock 22, 40 caliber. I mean, at a bare minimum, I would think a magazine would hold 8, 10, at least. Most people might carry a spare magazine with them if they're going to have a gun in the car or carry it on. their person, three magazines, three extra magazines is, you know, quite a lot. But not illegal, right? No.

As long as you, the gun is registered and it's legal to own and it's legal to be carried in the car. Now there over the years have been laws in some states where the ammunition and the gun have had to be kept separate. Right. It was that way here in Ohio, if you didn't have a concealed carry permit years ago, where you could have the gun in your car, but you had to have the ammunition like in the trunk. So that you couldn't put them together. Yeah, which I thought, okay, well, that's not going to do you much good. But that was the whole reason for, you know, having a concealed carry permit and going through

the background check and all of that, the training and all that. Colin Brown had been shot in the chest and in the shoulder. An officer noted that Colin was still breathing at 1.25 a.m. But he stopped breathing about a minute later. And an officer began CPR. Colin died at the scene. Nick Prado was shot once in the neck. He needed surgery to repair the nerve damage.

Nick Piring was wounded in the right arm. and hip, Kyle Zintech suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the shoulder and abdomen. He suffered a punctured lung, a damaged liver, and lost a kidney. Stephen had injuries on his head, back, chest, arms, and knees, and his mouth was bloody. And there's a lot of injuries there outside of the, obviously, the death as well. But a bunch of injuries. Well, when you fire multiple rounds. It sounds like, you know, at least the first two people he was aiming at.

Yeah. The rest of the shots were described as, you know, firing blindly. But, you know, you're bound to hit somebody when there's a lot of people around. It's true. And, you know, 40 caliber, it's a good size round. Yeah. It would do a lot of damage. But then what do you make of Stevens injuries?

It didn't say in the article how severe they were. but again, if people are trying to subdue him, I assume he's going to suffer some injuries. We also know somebody punched him in the face. I'm sure he's taking some beat down during that time. During his interview, Stephen told the police that he only took a sip of his friend's beer because he was the designated driver that night. Toxicology screens confirmed the four victims were drunk,

and Stephen was sober. Colin Brow's blood alcohol content level was 0.285, over three times the legal limit. Piring, Prado, and Zintech were also over the legal limit. Well, that's a situation you don't want to be in, especially if you're intoxicated, right? Well, yeah, where someone has a gun and is firing, I don't think you want to be in that situation,

Stone Cold sober or intoxicated. All four victims tested positive for marijuana. And Colin had a lower than therapeutic level of benzodiazepines in his system. But what is all this mean? Right. So they're drunk. Okay, they maybe smoked a little pot. One guy took a small amount of benzos.

But we're going to have to figure it all out, right? How does that kind of matter in the grand scheme? of what happened. That and the fact that Stephen was sober. Stephen was indicted for first-degree murder and aggravated assault in mid-October. He pleaded not guilty. Opening arguments in the murder trial

took place April 5th, 2017. The prosecution argued that Stephen went on a premeditated rampage because his pride was hurt. Per the Arizona Republic, they said Stephen couldn't wait to shoot his gun. So he could enact his deranged sense of justice after being punched in the face. So it's a pretty straightforward argument, right?

By the prosecution. Yeah, he got punched. His pride was heard. Yeah. He went to his car, got his gun, and came back to enact his revenge. Settle the score. I mean, he did get punched pretty. good to knock your bridge out and you have your glasses fly across yeah that's a heck of a punch

and you it probably would hurt your ego yeah i mean i think it bloodied his mouth yeah but we've all been in scraps where we've been punched or we punch somebody right when i say we all i mean you and i yeah because you and i have traded stories before i've been in my fair share of uh bar brawls uh things like that. And road rage stuff. And road rage incidents and stuff like that. The one thing that I have never thought is to win or lose, go back, get a gun, come back and finish it off.

Yeah. You know, it was always heat of the moment, whatever happened happened, and then it was done. Everybody walked away. Right. And everybody lived. Because, you know, it was just a fight. Some punches were thrown, but they get broken up and everybody goes their separate way. You stuck to the fight club laws, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. First and foremost, don't talk about fight club. Yeah, I never did. According to the prosecution, Stephen and his friends were outside the apartment complex where Colin and Nick Piring lived. Multiple parties were coming to an end at the time. A friend of Stephen knocked on the door.

And Colin, Nick Piring and the, friends, came out to confront them, and asked them to leave. A young man who had nothing to do with this confrontation, suddenly punched Stephen in the face, and then ran away. Stephen walked over 150 feet to his car, retrieved his gun, then walked over 90 feet to where a verbal discussion was taking place. I think that's important. He had walked 150 feet, which you could say is that kind of like a cool off time, you know, I mean, 150 feet. It's not far, but it's not a quick walk. And then you turned around and had another 90 feet.

You walk back. That's time for you in your mind to say, what am I doing? Well, and I'm sure it's why they laid it out the way they did. Yeah. This wasn't, you know, he just pulled this out of his backpack or out of his, you know, waistband. He didn't have it with him. He deliberately had to make. the walk to his car and then back.

So he had some time to think about it all. But what is interesting is this kind of theory by the prosecution that it was someone who had nothing to do with the confrontation at all who actually punched Stephen in the face. The prosecutor was unsure what connection Colin had to this discussion. The other victims were not involved. when Stephen shot Colin, Colin had his hands at his side. Nick Piring was running towards Colin when he was shot. And the other two victims were shot when they came to help.

Basically saying there was no threat. Yeah. I mean, this is what the prosecution is painting. And we know the defense is going to paint it much differently. But you're right. The prosecution is saying, where's the threat to Stephen, Jones that would justify him shooting multiple people and killing a person. Now, the defense argued that Stephen was surrounded, bullied, threatened, and attacked by strangers.

They said, Stephen did what he had to do to protect himself. He didn't have the luxury of hours or even minutes to make this decision. He had seconds. because as the defense said, after he was punched, Stephen ran to his car, he turned and saw at least two people chasing him. According to the defense, Stephen announced he had a gun and was trying to protect himself when Colin lunged at him. The defense disputed that the other shootings were unprovoked.

According to them, Nick Piring was shot as he came up behind Colin and jumped over a bush towards Stephen. Stephen then tucked his gun into the back of his pants and tried to offer aid to Colin, but a group of students began to pummel him. Someone apparently said, we're going to kill you, we're going to kill you. And at that point, Stephen fired multiple shots in the air to disperse the crowd, which hit Nick Prado and Kyle Zintech. I mean, I can see kids saying,

we're going to kill you, we're going to kill you if their friend has just been shot and this guy has a gun. I could see kids saying that. I mean, they're a little intoxicated. You know, I can see that happening. So what you're saying is you can see it. That's basically what you're saying. Now, I get you, but what I always take away from, you know, like this part of a case, you know, the trial part is the stark differences between, you know, the process. prosecutions account of what happened and then the defenses because they're obviously in

stark contrast to each other. Of course. Yeah. The prosecution is painting Stephen out to be, you know, this kind of cold-blooded killer out for revenge. His defense team is painting him out to be, you know, someone who was fearful for his life Finn was trying to protect that life. And as always, who's it going to be up to?

The jury. Yeah. I mean, the jury has to weigh everything. Who do you believe more? Yeah. It's what a lot of times it comes down to. And no doubt, though, right? And this was a trial full of conflicting accounts of what exactly happened.

I don't know that this same thing doesn't occur in many trials. fraternity brothers denied any violence on their part after that initial punch. Stephen and his friends said the drunk fraternity brothers were the aggressors. So the fraternity brothers are going to side with the fraternity and the friends are going to side with Stephen? Yeah, the lines are drawn. Yeah. Definitely. It may be in their head.

It's what they believe. Could be. or maybe they're just trying to protect their side. Yeah. Or the people or person on their side. Both sides also disagreed on the number of people who jumped Stephen after the first shooting. As we mentioned, witnesses said they were trying to subdue Stephen and take away his gun. Stephen believed he would be killed if they took his gun, which is why he fired into the air.

Now the prosecution alleged Stephen intended to shoot the victims. Nick Piring testified that he never saw a gun, only a flashlight, which investigators determined was attached to Stephen's gun. Nick said he didn't know how the argument started. He only recognized Colin's voice. He started jogging towards the sound of Colin's voice. He was arguing with three young men. Nick didn't know.

They cursed at each other. Colin told the others to leave, and they said he couldn't make them. Nick then saw a light coming from the parking lot. He thought it was an officer, arriving to break up the argument. Colin turned toward the light and took a few steps toward it, then dropped face first to the ground. Nick testified that he didn't hear the gunshots and didn't know Colin was fatally wounded. He started running towards Colin. The light turned towards him and blinded him, and he was shot twice.

You know, when I hear that, it just makes me think that Stephen had the opportunity to turn back and walk away and not have to go towards what he was saying were the aggressors. Yeah, I mean, I think it's kind of hard not to believe that. obviously the prosecution is pushing that narrative. During cross-examination, the defense noted that Nick initially told officers he heard shots. And in his original statements, it appeared he was on the scene longer and more involved in the altercation.

He told the police he was trying to calm Colin down and used the word we as if more people were there. In an earlier interview, Nick also described the individual's Colin was confronting is non-confrontational and they said they were leaving. I mean, that's a pretty big statement, right? Well, I think it is. You know, it calls into question, you know, just how many people were, let's call it advancing on Stephen for the lack of a better term.

Now, trial, Nick said he was in shock during his first interview at the hospital. He also testified that no one was attacking Stephen and Colin never lunged towards him. So is this the truth or is this some coaching after the fact before trial? Yeah, I think you have to question it. The defense noted that Nick was two and a half times the legal limit. Nick said he wasn't keeping track of how much he drank that evening, but maintained he had a good recollection of what happened. during the shooting.

Look, I've been at a lot of shootings. College parties. Parties, yes. And yeah, you don't, I mean, at least I never counted what I was drinking. I just drank. Right. I think a lot of people do it that way. You just have, you have one goal, right?

Finish this one and get another one? Exactly. I think for a lot of people, it is. But you would expect the defense to bring it up. And to make it a real point that, okay, this guy was two and a half times the legal limit, how can he really remember exactly what happened? So you as the jury, do you have to take that into consideration? I will also say, though, when you are that drunk, when something big, I mean, like a shooting or some type of event happens that it will wake you up from your drunkard stage.

Have you been drunk where a lot of shootings have taken place? I've been drunk where certain events have happened and it wakes you up and the buzz you have is gone. Okay. So it killed your buzz. Killed my buzz. Right then and there. Austin Contreras got on the stand and admitted that he threw the first punt. He testified that he was at the party at the courtyard apartment complex when three strangers walked into the patio between buildings.

Colin Brow and Nick Piring insisted they leap. Contreras moved with a group of people to the front of the apartment complex. He saw seven to ten men smack dab in the middle of the street. They were cursing at each other. He ran up and punched one of them in the face and the group scattered. He admitted I was drunk, acting stupid. Sure he was. That's a pretty dumb thing to do. Yeah.

And his actions, some could say, cause this spiral out of control. Yeah. You could make that argument. Now, you could also make the argument that, you know, Stephen Jones could have done things very differently. Sure. Contreras said he heard shots and saw Colin bleeding on the ground. He froze. then ran home. The next witness was Stephen's friend Jacob Mike. Jacob told the jury that he,

Stephen, and their friend, Shay McCorme, never entered the patio area between buildings. They were standing on the front sidewalk of the complex after knocking on one of the doors, looking for a friend. A group of five to seven young men approached. Jacob didn't know things were hostile until someone ran up to Stephen and punched him in the face. Jacob claimed he and Shea were pushed to the ground and his hat was knocked off. Other punches were thrown at him but didn't connect. He didn't think his life was in danger and he lost track of where his friends were during the altercation. He then saw Stephen approaching from a parking lot, holding a light.

At first he didn't know what it was. But he saw Stephen holding it with two hands, with one foot forward. Two or three people rushed towards Stephen. He heard shots and saw them fall. The light panned over to him, and Jacob called out, it's me, Stephen, Jake, don't shoot. Stephen told him to call 911. As he and Stephen were leaning over Colin,

trying to put pressure on his wounds, another man started choking, Stephen. Jacob pulled the man off and continued tending to Colin until police and paramedics arrived. So we're getting some mixed stories. Yeah, I mean, I think as you would expect, right? We have two different camps. Each camp has differing versions of events.

The one thing that I did take away from what Jacob said was that he didn't think his life was in danger. Which isn't good for Stephen. Well, I don't think it would be if a jury looks at it kind of the way that, that I'm taking. Shea McConnell told a similar story, but added that Jacob Mike might have knocked on the apartment door or rung the doorbell as a prank.

Shea said he started freaking out when the apartment door opened and six or seven men came out. He also testified they didn't enter the courtyard where the party was taking place and they were on the sidewalk trying to call their fourth friend

they had lost. Shea tried to do. reason with the men by saying they were leaving. He saw Stephen get punched and saw Jacob get taken to the ground before someone took him down as well. Shea testified that he saw Stephen standing at the edge of the parking lot with his gun. He was pointing the weapon and Colin lunged like he was going to grab Stephen. Stephen fired and according to Shea, Colin dropped like a rock. Shea ran home. He ran home. at that point. So again, right, it's still conflicting stories. But what I do think is that some parts are very similar, right? Where they kind of diverge is in the most important aspect. Sure.

You know, there's a fight. Everybody agrees that Stephen was punched in the face. One guy even admitted that he was the one who did it. But it's kind of from, that point forward that things start to change. There's no doubt Stephen goes and gets his gun. Yeah. But at the point where he comes back, it's one side saying Colin was lunging at him. The other side saying, no, he wasn't lunging at all. Stephen just shot him. Right. Colin's autopsy report was presented at trial. It indicated he was two feet or closer to the muzzle of the gun when it was fired. The bullet's trajectory indicated Colin was leaning forward, as if he were lunging,

which corroborated some witnesses' accounts. Now, the prosecution suggested Colin tripped and fell. But I think if you're the jury Gibbs, you got to look at this autopsy report, and think, well, is it more likely that he was lunging, right, towards Stephen? More likely than not. Nick Prado testified that he was not involved in the verbal altercation that led to the shooting. From across the street, he saw a flashlight beam move across the parking lot towards Colin and Nick Pyring, who were standing at the far end.

He ran towards them after he heard shots. He found Colin on his back on the pavement and took him in his arms. Prado testified, as quoted by the Arizona Republic, he was on his back. His shirt was covered with blood. His eyes were wide open. He was looking up at the sky. He didn't say a word. Oh, sad, you know?

Yeah, to see a friend like that, it would be very tough. He said he tried to get a look at the shooter who was kneeling or sitting several feet away. He had been knocked down by other bystands. Sanders. He had never seen the man before. The shooter reached behind his back. Nick said, I took a couple of steps forward. I saw the gun pulled on me. That's all I remember. He was shot in the neck. He clamped his hand over the wound and ran back to the apartment complex to wait for an ambulance. Kyle Zintech testified that he remembered little more than still pictures of the shooting. In one of those pictures, he saw Colin.

and Nick piring standing near each other. And another, Colin fell like a statue knocked down. When he saw the light on the gun, he decided to run away. He was hit by bullets and fell to the ground. That's going to be kind of hard for self-defense, right? I mean, if they can prove that he was hit as he was running away. Right. But Stevens already admitted at this point, he was kind of just firing blindly.

Yeah. because he was scared for his life. And we talked a lot about this light that people have seen. I'm assuming it's one of those gun lights that attaches to the underside of the gun so that it becomes kind of part of it. Some of those are very bright. Yeah, those are some pretty bright lights. I don't want to say blinding, but maybe if you get in the eye the right way. Well, I know some of them have a setting that it's almost like a strobe that is actually meant to blind or disorient someone if they break into your home.

Witness Nick Pletke testified that he heard yelling near the dorm and saw his friends Colin and Nick Piring on the sidewalk in front of the dorm. He heard an argument, saw the flashlight shine on Colin, and heard gunshots as he started walking towards Colin. He was afraid the shooter would fire again. So he ran at him and grabbed him in a chokehold. When the shooter reached for the gun in his belt, Nick ran and hit. Nick also testified that earlier in the evening, he saw four pledges from another frat come into the center patio area between the courtyard buildings. He told them to leave and went back into Colin and Nick Piring's apartment, where

15 to 20 people were hanging out. after five to ten minutes the four pledges were still outside. Nick told them to leave again. He was unable to say if the four people he chased from the party were the same people involved in the altercation. So, I mean, I think as we see in a lot of cases, especially a lot of testimony, I mean, this is a ton for the jury to digest. Yeah.

It really is. Stephen got on the stand to testify in his own defense. His testimony was consistent with what he told the police after the shooting. He admitted to shooting and killing Colin, but maintained it was self-defense. He summarized the events of the night and described for the jury how he and two friends were walking back to his car and stopped in front of an apartment complex to call their lost friend. He said, it was quiet. and he heard voices, Stephen testified, I heard a commotion, a whole lot of dude yelling,

and then I got punched. It really rocked my world. Stephen maintained that he did nothing to provoke the punch. His vision went dark and he saw white as his vision was returning to normal. He felt someone grabbed the back of his shirt. He ran and heard people around him yelling. What the fuck are you doing here? Go back to the freshman dorm.

I'll fuck you up. Now, as always, the Arizona Republic omitted the expletives, but I think it's important to put them in because this is what he is saying he heard. This is what he's thinking is a threat towards him. Yeah. He said that he thought three or four people were chasing him. So he ran towards the dorm because he thought the brothers from his frat would protect it.

He realized he didn't have his ID card to get. into the building, so he ran to his car instead. He thought the men were still pursuing him. Stephen said, I was kind of panicked. I was really scared and freaking out. The electronic door opener to his car, separated from his keys, he found the clicker in his back pocket and hit buttons until the car unlocked. He still couldn't find the ignition key, so he grabbed the gun from the glove box.

Stephen testified, when I got the gun, I instinctively changed. chambered around, he yelled, get on the ground, don't fucking move. I have a gun. Stephen said that the 90-foot walk from his car felt like just a handful of steps. Two men approached him. According to Stephen, the one on the right said, I'll fucking kill you. Then the one on the left called him a pussy. Sounds like what some college kids would say. It does. Now, is that what they really said? Or is that what? what Stephen is claiming, they said, because it makes it sound more menacing.

Sure. He said, the one on the right charged, and he fired. They ran at him as fast as they could with their hands up, according to him, looking me dead in the eye. Stephen said, I knew if I waited another second, I'd be seriously hurt because they were right there. Stephen shot both men twice. This is when he went over to Colin and tried to put pressure on his wound.

he was jumped by several others. They put him in a headlock, twisted his arm, and one was trying to grab his gun from his waistband. Stephen fired his gun into the air to try to get them to run away. He claimed he didn't realize he shot two others in the process. He backed up a small hill and a man identified his witness Chase Jones, tapped him on the shoulder, and told him it was safe to put the gun down. He saw police lights and.

and was arrested moments later. So, all right, let's go back and analyze some of this. I mean, first of all, you know, big gamble, right, for Stephen to take the stand. Huge gamble. It always is for a defendant. But there are a couple of things that jumped out of it. You know, he said he thought people were chasing it.

So he was trying to get into the fraternity house, but he didn't have his ID card or his electronic. key card or whatever it was. Right. So he went to his car. Were the people still chasing him at that point? I mean, it sounds like he tried to see if he could start the car. Then when he realized he couldn't do that, then he went into the glove box, got the gun.

And then he made the 90-foot walk back. Where are these people who are chasing him? I mean, if you're 90 feet away and if you didn't stop at your car or once you realize you couldn't start it, how much further could you get away if they were already 90 feet away? I mean, I think the threat was gone at that point. That's kind of where my head is at. But bringing the gun back to the scene, it's almost, I think you can make the argument that you're now. re-instigating something. Yeah.

I think if you're sitting there on the jury, you're saying you had an opportunity to get away. To get away. You chose not to when you walk back to engage the party now with a firearm. Now, what happened when he got back, there's all kinds of differing accounts, right, of that. Did, you know, Colin lunged him, did he not? but I don't think it's in dispute that he went to his car, got his gun, and then walked back to where everybody was. And I think that has to weigh pretty heavily on the jury.

I think it would weigh very heavily on me if I was on the jury. Sure. Because you have to say, he wasn't forced to walk back. He made that decision himself. The defense showed photos of Stevens injuries, which included red marks on a statement. temple, blood on his lips, a scraped knee, a scraped thumb, bruises, scrapes and cuts on his elbow, and a bruise on his shoulder. Two of his teeth were also injured during the altercation. And again, some of that definitely came from that first punch. Sure, that guy landed a heck of a punch.

During cross-examination, the prosecutor pointed out that Stephen claimed his attackers said they were going to kill him. But no one else testified to hearing the word kill. The prosecutor questioned how Stephen could have seen that his two friends were in trouble when it was dark and his glasses had been knocked off by the punch. I think it would be tough. According to the Arizona Republic, the judge granted the prosecution's motion to preclude statements Stephen made to the police in the patrol car immediately after the shooting. He said he thought he was going to die and questioned why a group of fraternity brothers were trying to hurt. hurt him. So the trial wrapped up, deliberations began on April 25th, but were suspended on the 26th, so the judge could consider a defense motion arguing that prosecutors misled the jury in closing

arguments. In his closing statement, the prosecutor led the jury to believe. Stephen made no statements related to self-defense until hours later at the police station. The judge denied the defense's motion for a mistrial and read an instruction to jurors informing them of the prosecution's misrepresentation. So I guess he told them, ah, they said this, but they shouldn't have said it. It's not true. And we've seen that in many cases, right? A mistake is made, but a judge rules.

It's not a big enough mistake to, you know, need to declare a mistrial. But on May 2nd, 2017, the judge declared a mistrial after five days of deliberation. Prosecutors planned to retry Stephen on a reduced charge of second-degree murder. The retrial was pushed back five times at the request of the defense. I mean, going back to the judge declaring the mistrial after five days of deliberation, I'm not really surprised that they were deliberating for five days at that point. I mean, there's a lot of information to dissect. Well, and I think if you have 12 people on a jury,

I'm sure you had some of those people probably believing that one side was telling the truth, some believing the other side was telling the truth. Yeah. Yeah, you could see where it would be a tough jury room. On January 9th, 2020, Stephen pleaded guilty to manslaughter and three counts of aggravated to Saul. his trial was scheduled to start on January 22nd. If he had been convicted of second degree murder,

he would have faced up to 25 years in prison. With the plea deal, he was to be sentenced to five to 10 years in prison and would be required to serve 85% of the sentence. So he weighed his options and said, you know what, probably best if I go this route. Yeah, I mean, he's guaranteed, right, to get out while still.

a pretty young guy. Yeah. Now, he has to plead guilty to manslaughter, but 5 to 10, 85% of 5 to 10 versus 25, it's a big difference. What is that? Like worst case, 8 and a half years? I'm not a math whiz like you.

Yeah, that sounds right. The Arizona Republic reported that so much time had passed that many witnesses and the survivors were no longer college students, Nick Piring and Kyle Zintech earned finance degrees, and Nick Prado earned a degree in hotel and restaurant management. On February 11, 2020, Stephen Jones was sentenced to six years for manslaughter and five years for aggravated assault to run concurrently with the first sentence. Stephen said in court is quoted by the Arizona Republic. If it were possible, I would in a heartbeat right now trade places.

with Colin, if he could be home with his family and I could be dead, I would do that. But that's not possible. Prosecutors in the victim's families had asked for the maximum sentence. Kyle Zintech gave a victim impact statement and said he was reminded of what happened every time he looked in the mirror and saw his scars. He added, we're lucky. There weren't any more innocent bystanders hurt. Stephen's family and friends wrote letters to the court,

describing him as a man raised by military veterans with traditional Christian values, they described how he's a generous and disciplined person. Stephen enrolled at NAU full of hopes and dreams. He wanted to earn an engineering degree. Stephen's attorneys presented a pre-sentencing report that stated he performed flawlessly while out of custody on electronic monitoring. the report concluded that mitigation appears to outweigh aggravation in this case. And any sentence imposed in this case does not reverse the devastating outcomes.

All involved parties have suffered thus far. His attorneys played a video taken after the shooting, showing Stephen crying with his head in his hands. When the police told him someone had died, he crouched into a fetal position and said, I wish someone had shot me. I should have just let them kill me. Stephen Jones was paroled on August 19th, 2012. He ended up serving about four and a half years

due to credit for time served. So you can make the argument that it was a good plea deal for him. Oh, for sure. Yeah. Good deal. Now, was there a chance that he beats the second degree murder? Possibly.

tougher to beat second degree than it is to beat first degree. Yeah. I think for any jury, you're looking at that time where you had the opportunity to walk away. And just the mere fact that he went and got the gun and came back, you know, to me is just a major factor in this case. You know, it's one thing, Gibbs, if you're carrying a gun, you know, you're out and someone tries to to rob you and you pull the gun in self-defense or they threaten you or whatever the situation is. Much different. You know, if you're in a bar and you get into an altercation, then you go out to your car,

get your gun and come back into the bar. Yeah. That is a much different scenario to me. Extremely different. Colin Browse and Andrea Jernigan told ABC 15, she believes the justice. this system failed, saying it's not fair that after serving four and a half years, the kid is walking the streets free as a bird. And I got to be honest with you, if I'm a family member, I would be feeling the same way. Of course. ABC 15 reached out to Steve and to ask if he would do an

interview. A family friend said he was trying to move forward quietly. And I don't blame him. There's really nothing good, I think, that could come out from him doing an interview. he's a free man. I would just keep my head down and try to build a life at that point. Yeah, you don't want to put a spotlight on you or anything at that point. Just like you said, keep your head down and move forward. But, you know, this remains an extremely divisive case among the Flagstaff community due to a number of factors.

It was difficult for authorities to determine exactly what happened before, during, and immediately after the shooting. And I think that goes directly to the fact that you had two different sides with conflicting accounts of, you know, what happened. I still, for me, the big thing is the fact that he went to his car, walked all the way there, got the gun, walked all the way back. And, you know, that alone introduced this. lethal weapon into what had been up to that point, you know, some scuffling, a few punches

thrown. If he doesn't go get the gun, chances are everybody walks away that night. Yeah. You don't have a young man dead. You don't have other young men wounded. You go home, you nurse your injuries and everybody heals and life goes on. But the lethality of a 40, caliber Glock cannot be understated. Right. I mean, that is a very dangerous weapon. It's not a pea shooter.

40 caliber, very capable round. I will say that. Yes. And, you know, if you're firing at people who may or may not be a threat to you,

right? People are split on whether Colin was coming at him or not. And then, At some point, you're just firing indiscriminately and somehow hitting people. Bad things can happen. And they did. That's exactly what happened. But to me, again, it was the introduction of the gun, the retrieval of the gun.

Right. Just walk away. If you can, you walk away. I think that's what he should have done. But that's it for our episode on Stephen Jones. We've got a voicemail. You want to check that out? Let's hear.

Hey, this is Shelvin from Texas. I was just calling in to say that I love the podcast, but I got a couple of case suggestions. I want to be Rodney Reed out of Bastrop, Texas. The other one would be Shelly Watkins out of Corsicana, Texas. Pretty interesting. You should look them up. I thought I'd pitch an idea that would be pretty cool. If you could have Gibby do one, a full-length episode where he reads to you, does all the research, and it tells you a story.

I thought that would be pretty cool. Also, another thing I caught the shock factor. Whereas, you know, you're shocked when you hear somebody get killed. And the order would be, you know, children, old people, animals, women, and men. And then you can throw in, you know, mentally challenged and physically handicapped and stuff like that. And every way you'd like, but discuss that if you want. I hope to hear us on a podcast. Love the show.

Keep it going. All right. It's a good voicemail. We've actually bandied that idea about a few times, maybe especially like on Patreon, you doing it. We did. But every time we come back to what an editing nightmare it would be. Yeah, I mean, that's your take on it. No, I've actually tried to get you to do it and you have declined multiple times.

Do we have that much time in a day to do that? I don't know. I don't know how long it would take to record. I mean, it would take. You might have to feed me two meals that day, maybe three. Might have to take multiple breaks. Yeah, might have to camp overnight. breaks no but eventually I think we have to do it I just want to see how it turns out

maybe for episode 500 maybe maybe which you know we'll be here before you know yeah all right buddy that is it for another episode of true crime all the time so for Mike and give me stay safe and keep your own time ticking