In the cold, early hours of February 9, 2022, an argument outside a Rochester, New York, gas station turned fatal, ending the life of Kenneth Hightower. A 24-year-old Black man from Rochester, Hightower was in the parking lot of the Exxon station at the corner of Portland and Clifford Avenues when the altercation occurred around 2:30 a.m. In the ensuing violence, he was both stabbed and shot.
The scene was chaotic. A clerk working inside the station, Ahmed Saleh, later recalled being with two female customers when they told him someone had been shot outside. As he moved to lock the door, another man approached, pleading to be let inside. A security guard refused, reportedly saying he did not want someone who was shot in the store. Emergency services were called, and Hightower was rushed to a local hospital, but he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
The Rochester Police Department’s Major Crimes Unit began an immediate investigation.
The suspect or suspects had fled the area, and initially, police had no one in custody. They asked the public for help, releasing phone numbers for 911, the Major Crimes Unit, and CrimeStoppers for anyone with information about the attack.
Within weeks, investigators identified two men as suspects in the killing: 37-year-old Shannon Jones and 24-year-old Tyreese Jones. On February 24, the United States Marshals Violent Felony Fugitive Task Force located and arrested Shannon Jones on an outstanding warrant for a federal probation violation related to a 2019 weapons and drug conviction. On March 1, the same task force arrested Tyreese Jones as he was leaving a house in Rochester.
Police alleged that Shannon Jones was the one who stabbed Hightower, while Tyreese Jones shot him with a handgun. Both men were charged with second-degree murder. Tyreese Jones faced an additional charge of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. They were arraigned in Rochester City Court on the morning of March 2, 2022. As of March 2022, both men had been arrested and charged in connection with Kenneth Hightower's death.
