Yolanda Jones
Reporter
Yolanda Jones covers criminal justice issues and general assignment news for The Daily Memphian. She previously was a reporter at The Commercial Appeal.
There are 774 articles by Yolanda Jones :
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October 2018
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Public Safety Shanynthia Gardner, charged with killing her four young children at her Shelby County apartment in 2016, will go to trial next summer, but whether it will be heard by a jury or the judge has not been decided. -
Public Safety Shelby County DA’s office won’t prosecute many revoked driver’s license cases
For the last seven weeks, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office has quietly dismissed more than 3,000 cases where people were charged with driving on suspended, revoked or canceled driver’s licenses. -
Public Safety Playback Memphis troupe helps bridge gap between police and ex-felons
Gabrielle Cole served 21 months in jail. When she got out, her anger and frustration consumed her. -
Public Safety No mental evaluation for teen accused in Phil Trenary homicide
Ranisha Wright, one of three people charged in connection with the death of Phil Trenary, will not undergo a mental evaluation her attorney told a Juvenile Court judge during a brief hearing Tuesday morning. -
Public Safety Court orders Memphis skin and hair care company to stop operations of some products
A 92-year-old Memphis company that makes skin care and hair care products has been ordered by a federal court to stop making its over-the counter products after the company was found in violation of several Food and Drug Administration safety measures, the U.S. Department of Justice said this week. -
Public Safety Attorney for one of suspects in Trenary case said others may be involved
The two men accused in the fatal shooting of Greater Memphis Chamber president and CEO Phil Trenary will be back in court Monday when their attorneys will seek to get a preliminary hearing date set in the case. -
Public Safety Memphis police force increases for first time since 2011
Over the last five years, the Memphis Police Department has seen officers leaving every year, but grant funding from private donors has allowed the department to recruit and retain more officers, and for the first time the police force has seen something it has not experienced since 2011 — growth. -
Public Safety Judge issues sanctions against city for violating consent decree
U.S. District Judge Jon P. McCalla ruled Friday that the ACLU of Tennessee had legal standing to sue the city of Memphis, saying that there was "clear and convincing evidence" that the city conducted political intelligence against activists in violation of a 40-year-old consent decree. -
Public Safety Death penalty trial begins in 2015 killing of Memphis police officer Sean Bolton
Jury selection began Monday, Oct. 29, in the death penalty murder trial of Tremaine Wilbourn, the man charged in the 2015 killing of Memphis Police Department officer Sean Bolton. He is at least the fourth defendant since 2011 to face a capital-murder trial in Shelby County Criminal Court. -
Public Safety Activists see vindication in Memphis police surveillance court order
For the last few years, Memphis activist Keedran Franklin said police have sat outside his office in an unmarked car. Some have followed him, and other officers he doesn’t know have approached him and addressed him by name.
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November 2018
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Public Safety Jury hears account of police officer’s death in Wilbourn trial
Marquis Wright was smoking a cigarette in the driveway of his uncle’s home when he saw Memphis police officer Sean Bolton struggling with a suspect and then saw that man shoot the officer. -
Public Safety Tremaine Wilbourn trial: Prosecutors call officers, neighbors on Day 4
The night Memphis police officer Sean Bolton was shot and killed on a street in Parkway Village, Jacoba Boyd was one of the first officers to make the scene and used his paramedic training to try to save his friend’s life. -
Public Safety Shelby County Medical Examiner testifies at death penalty trial
Memphis police officer Sean Bolton was shot eight times last year on a Parkway Village street, and one of the bullets to his thigh pierced an artery killing him, according to Shelby County Medical Examiner Dr. Marco Ross. -
Public Safety Jury hears opening statements in death penalty trial of Tremaine Wilbourn
The jury in the death penalty trial of Tremaine Wilbourn, the man charged with fatally shooting Memphis police Officer Sean Bolton, was selected Tuesdy night. Attorneys will present opening arguments Wednesday when the trial begins at 9 a.m.. -
Public Safety Jurors to begin deliberations Sunday in Wilbourn death penalty case
Shelby County Prosecutor Reginald Henderson stood in the middle of the courtroom and pulled the trigger on an unloaded 9mm gun. He then pulled the trigger 10 more times. -
Public Safety Jury finds Tremaine Wilbourn guilty in death of MPD officer Sean Bolton
Memphis Police officer Sean Bolton’s killer was headed to life in prison without the possibility of parole, until the officer’s family told prosecutors to reject this offer. -
Public Safety Tremaine Wilbourn’s life story revealed in sentencing hearing
Tremaine Wilbourn was born to a teen mother who, by the time he was a toddler, was on drugs and allegedly a prostitute. -
Public Safety Wilbourn sentenced to life without parole for murder of MPD officer Sean Bolton
Memphis police officer Sean Bolton’s killer, Tremaine Wilbourn, will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. -
Metro Activists with Indivisible Memphis hold ‘Protect Mueller’ protest
More than 100 people stood in the cold in downtown Memphis on Saturday, Nov. 10, to protest President Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew G. Whitaker as acting U.S. Attorney General, a move that many across the country believe will threaten the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller. -
Public Safety Sheriff’s office promotes first African-American woman to chief inspector
Rosalind Harrison has made history twice in the last year with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. -
Metro Two die in crash of tour bus headed for Tunica on I-269
Two people were killed and 44 were injured when a tour bus headed to Tunica flipped over on an icy section of Interstate 269 in DeSoto County Wednesday afternoon. -
Public Safety Two suspects in Trenary homicide waive right to preliminary hearing
Two of the three suspects accused in the fatal shooting of Greater Memphis Chamber CEO Phil Trenary waived their rights to a preliminary hearing Tuesday and now their case will be sent to the grand jury for possible indictment on the murder charges. -
Public Safety Man shot during fight outside Oak Court Mall
Memphis police are investigating after a 22-year-old man was injured when he was grazed by a bullet during a fight outside Oak Court Mall in East Memphis Thanksgiving night. -
Public Safety City of Memphis seeks to modify 40-year-old consent decree, hearing set for July
A federal judge already has ruled the city of Memphis violated a consent decree when police officers conducted surveillance on protesters in recent years. This summer, another non-jury trial will be held after the city asked the court to modify the 40-year-old consent agreement. -
Public Safety Memphis and Shelby County homicide victims remembered with ceremony
Jaylon Cohen was out with friends enjoying Fourth of July fireworks when he was shot in the parking lot of a Taco Bell in Bartlett.
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