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 :
Mike Williams, longtime police union leader, is retiring from the department. He has taken a job as CAO for General Sessions Court Clerk-elect Joe Brown.
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan is expected to rule Sept. 16 whether DNA testing in the Pervis Payne murder case can be conducted.
It is the first reported death from the coronavirus at the facility.
SWAT team deputies with Shelby County Sheriff's Office fatally shoot man barricaded in home in Fayette County.
Sgt. Essica Cage, the new leader of the nearly 2,000-member police union, discusses the city's residency requirement for first responders and her opinion about defunding the police.
The Shelby County man, convicted in the 1987 slayings of a Millington woman and her young daughter, is scheduled to be executed on Dec. 3.
The family of Darrius Stewart and local activists gathered to remember him on the five-year anniversary of his death. They also called for District Attorney Amy Weirich to reopen the case of his death.
Attorneys representing medically vulnerable detainees at the Shelby County Jail have filed a motion to amend their original class-action lawsuit against Sheriff Bonner and the Shelby County Jail.
Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan ordered the expedited DNA testing of crime scene evidence that has never been tested, including a knife used in the murders, eyeglasses and bloodstained clothing.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner is forming a civilian committee to offer input on hiring of deputies as part of police reform efforts.
Two changes sought by the city of Memphis in a 41-year-old consent decree governing police surveillance will not be allowed under a ruling issued Monday, Sept. 21, by U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla allowing most changes.
Activists in Memphis marched Wednesday evening in reaction to a Louisville, Kentucky, grand jury’s decision to not charge three police officers in the death of Breonna Taylor.
MLGW votes to hire Georgia consulting firm to get proposals on companies seeking to replace TVA as the energy source for the utility.
Memphis Police Director Michael Rallings weighed in during a press conference over the department’s Use of Force policy. A Wednesday incident in which a gun was allegedly pointed at protesters also was a topic of conversation.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner says the jail’s Direct Response Team made a “regrettable mistake” by displaying e-shields, which can deliver an electric shock, during recent protests outside 201 Poplar.
The man accused by activists of pointing a gun at them after a march for Breonna Taylor earlier this week has been arrested and charged.
After her son was shot and killed during a robbery outside his family’s apartment complex in 2018, Tameka Talley started a mentoring group for his friends.
Memphis has set a grim milestone with three months to go in 2020, as the city recorded a record-setting 229th homicide for the year with the death of a 12-year-old during a drive-by shooting in the Westwood area Monday night, Sept. 28. Related story: Haushalter hopes COVID effort is model for other chronic city problems
Shelby County Criminal Court trials can resume in October after judges suspended trials in August because of COVID-19.
Sen. Katrina Robinson, accused of embezzling more than $600,000 from her business, The Healthcare Institute, now has a trial date set for Sept. 13, 2021.
Memphis municipal courts to resume in-person appearances with a staggered schedule beginning Monday, Oct. 5.
MPD officers have been told to submit job-related social media search terms by Oct. 12.
An assessment tool that weighs factors such as previous criminal history, the severity of the new charge, educational background and age led authorities to release the 16-year-old multiple times.
Since a mixup in evidence at the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk’s property and evidence room, a new verification procedure has been put in place to reduce the risk of such a situation occurring again.
Three employees with Better Days Tax Service have been charged with wire fraud, accused of scamming $1.1 million from a COVID-19 loan relief program aimed at helping small businesses impacted by the pandemic.