Chase Daniel Jones Plea Hearing Thursday April 3, 2025

Today was the plea hearing for Chase Jones. I wore my grandma Popes black jacket, and Buster's bracelet to feel their strength.  I texted Mom and Kell a picture and said "I wear Grandma popes jacket today and I think it means she is with me" Kell's response was: "I think so, too. Can that jacket just represent me and Mom both wrapping their arms around you for as long as you have it on?" My Mom said "Yes Jessica. We are so with you in heart and mind. And that's Grandma Hoopes' mirror reflecting love and strength to you". The support and love from my family over the last year has been amazing. 

When we got to the parking of the Maleng Regional Court House I saw the Wilcoxsons. They were there with all of their kids and they all looked so dapper and handsome.  I really noticed the hole in their family though without Tilly and Lou there.  Abe decided not to come, which was kind of sad, but I understood.  

When we walked in the building and up to the room where we were supposed to be, their was a double set of doors. On the inside of some double doors there was this really young kid greeting people- giving hugs and crying. He looked like a pre-missionary giving hugs at a farewell. It wasn't until he saw Jaron and turned and looked away and started to cry that I realized who it was. It was Chase Jones.  I don't feel like saying much about the next hour, only to say a few key moments that matter. One was, that before Chase's hearing began, when the room was quiet and everyone was seated waiting for the judge to begin, Chace Wilcoxson stood up, and went and put his hand on Chase Jones' back and whispered in is ear "I don't hate you, and I'm sorry you have to go through this". Chase Jones started sobbing.  

The other thing I want to share is how sad this hearing was. Rivka looked at me when I first got there and said "What are we doing here?" and she was right. We should be out frolicking in that sunlight, hiking with Andrea and all her kids, and us and ALL our kids.  It was so sad to hear again why we were there, because Chase Jones was pleading guilty to all counts against him including four vehicular homicides.  You would think that perhaps having him plead guilty would bring me some sort of satisfaction, but it didn't. It was just sad.  Four lives were taken that day, two lives put in critical condition, and now one more life has the potential to be hardened and ruined by over a decade in prison.  There is simply no winning here. No winning.  I had a hard time keeping it together, my heart felt so sad, and so heavy. 

When I got home I had 45 minutes to myself.  I went walking in the green belt and found myself sitting crisscross applesauce at the boys fort. I cried and cried. I prayed. I talked to Buster. Out of the corner of my eye during one of my sobs I saw a humming bird darting back and forth amongst the trees. It made me smile. Not only do I love humming birds, but it reminded me of when I used to come out here to get Warner and Buster to come in for dinner, and I would see them darting to and fro amongst the trees and ferns.  Then the humming bird flew towards me, and paused flapping its wings mid air, suspended right in front of me for what seemed like a long moment, but was in reality probably only a few seconds before darting away again.  It didn't feel like a coincidence.    

 









Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Olivia's Statement

  Impact statement                                                                                                       Olivia Brown In the last year, I have considered driving to Chase Jones's home dozens of times. I have wanted to ask him questions. I have wondered what is he like and what does he feel? Is he remorseful? Or does he just regret his choice on March 19th for its costs on himself?  For the rest of my life, I will not know how to answer when someone asks me how many siblings I have. I will never play fiddle songs with my brother again, or bike around the neighborhood with him, or wash dishes while he loads them into the dishwasher. For the rest of my mom’s life, she will mourn the boy she can no longer raise and...
Read more

Feeling Buster in Switzerland

Image
                                                    When we arrived in Switzerland everything was so astonishingly beautiful, orderly, and pleasing to the eye. Every neatly piled stack of wood, every smooth, symmetrical tunnel, every tidy chalet made me think of Buster.  In Italy, there weren't as many things to remind us of him, but in Switzerland, this place of patterns, symmetry, order, beautiful crystal blue lakes, and mountain hikes- it practically screamed "Come Buster! Come". He would have loved to be there.  I had a few good cries on the daily missing him, but one day I felt him really close.  On this day we were on a quest to find a good swimming spot.  We had looked one up on google, but couldn't find any parking. We had circled and circled and finally decided we would first drive down to the swim spot to...
Read more

Jess's Statement at the Sentencing Hearing of Chase Daniel Jones

  Honorable Judge, The actions of Chase Daniel Jones have greatly impacted mine and my family's life. Since he committed this crime, I feel like I lost not only Buster, but myself. I used to be a reliable, active participant who showed up with a willing heart and cheery disposition in my various communities that I was a part of, now what I have to offer feels like an empty shell of a person, who has no bandwidth to spare.  I have had trouble sleeping since the crash, often being woken up by the sound of racers in the valley, which brings immense feelings of anger and pain to the forefront and makes it hard to fall back asleep.  My view of the vulnerability of life and anxiety for my children’s welfare has gone up ten fold. When my teenagers say goodbye and drive away, I worry every time now that they might get hit like Buster, Eloise, Matilda, and Andrea did.  When they have been driving somewhere and call my phone, a part of me wonders if this is the moment where th...
Read more