Carlos Andre Jones, 29, was found critically injured and died at the scene in a parking lot on the 500 block of Chestnut Street in Vinton on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 16, 2020. The Vinton Police Department classified the death as a homicide and opened an investigation. Family members said Jones did not live at the apartment building where the shooting occurred and did not know why he was there; loved ones later held a candlelight vigil at Staunton Park in Roanoke.

Investigators initially identified a person of interest but made no immediate arrest. Authorities later reported that the shooting occurred inside a residence after a heated confrontation between Jones and his girlfriend, Teirra Shanae Poindexter. During the argument Poindexter introduced a loaded handgun, at one point aimed it at Jones and at her son, then left the weapon on a coffee table within reach. Her 10-year-old son picked up the gun and shot Jones.

Poindexter was subsequently convicted of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of felony child neglect; an appellate court affirmed that leaving a loaded firearm accessible in that volatile situation was criminally negligent and directly contributed to Jones’s death. Does anyone have information about Jones’s movements that afternoon or the residence where the shooting occurred?