Jamaican fugitive accused of killing 4 in South L.A. eatery makes FBI’s ‘Ten Most Wanted’
A fugitive Jamaican gang member suspected of killing four people in a bloody gunbattle at a popular South L.A. Jamaican restaurant was added to the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list Thursday.
Deidre L. Fike, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the Los Angeles office, revealed that Marlon Jones is believed to be the suspect in the bloody shooting with rival gang members that also left 10 people wounded at an Oct. 15 party at a Caribbean restaurant inside a home.
“The crimes allegedly committed by Marlon Jones are extreme, earning him a place on the FBI’s Top Ten list,” Fike said, noting he should be considered armed and dangerous.
The FBI announced it is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Jones, who is the 510th fugitive to be named to the list. He was charged with four counts of murder and a federal warrant issued for his arrest after being charged with unlawful flight from prosecution, Pike said.
According to LAPD investigators, Jones has a lengthy history of violence and belongs to a Jamaican criminal gang that operates on the U.S. East Coast. Investigators say the group is involved in the large-scale distribution of drugs, and Jones and other members may have come to L.A. to settle a dispute with rivals. Jones, who is a Jamaican national, had been living in New York. He was in the U.S. illegally, authorities say.
Jones is known to use a variety of aliases including Rasheen Brantley, Floyd Evans Jr. and “Junior.” He operates in New Jersey, Connecticut, Tennessee and California, as well as the Caribbean.
The deadly gunbattle exploded between two groups at a birthday party in the 2900 block of Rimpau Boulevard. The house where the killings occurred serves as a popular underground Jamaican eatery called Dilly’s Kitchen.
Jones and a second person, who police said fired into a crowd, fled before police arrived.
LAPD arrested two Jamaican nationals on suspicion of murder in connection with the shooting: Mowayne McKay, 33, and Diego Reid, 25. They were found at hospitals where they were being treated for gunshot wounds, Whittingham said.
In the wake of the gunbattle, Mayor Eric Garcetti said the West Adams shooting was “the latest example of a senseless gun violence epidemic that causes so much pain and sorrow in our city and across the nation.”
The FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list was established in March 1950. Since then, 478 fugitives have been apprehended or located, FBI officials said.
Jones is described as 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-10, 170 pounds with brown hair and eyes.
Anyone with information concerning Jones should immediately contact the nearest FBI office or local law enforcement agency. The FBI’s Los Angeles field office can be reached 24 hours a day at 888 226-8443).
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