Carl Bubba Eugene Jones Jr., 31, of Newport, North Carolina, was found shot to death inside a fully engulfed home on Melanie Street in Emerald Isle on January 9, 2020. Emergency responders discovered his body after the house fire. Investigators determined Jones had been shot multiple times before the blaze.

Authorities identified 25-year-old Patrick Whitley of Havelock as the primary suspect. After his arrest in Corpus Christi, Texas, Whitley was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree arson. Investigators reported four gunshot wounds to Jones’s neck and stomach, several Molotov cocktails in the residence, and eight shell casings matching Whitley’s gun; legal documents say Whitley confessed and described shooting someone in self-defense after gasoline was thrown into the house.

Jones is survived by his son Elisha Carl Jones and daughter Emma Christine Jones, his parents Carl and Sara Jones, and his sister Stephanie McRee; the family held a memorial service at Graham Memorial Pentecostal Holiness Church. Does anyone have information about Jones’s last known movements or about activity on Melanie Street that night?