Rosedale man sentenced to life plus 185 years in shooting that killed 4-year-old son

One of the most joyous times of the year became a day of mourning for Promyss Marcelle.

Marcelle said she remembers how her son’s father, Mark Jones Jr., opened fire on Christmas Eve 2024 inside the Ross Ridge Apartment Homes, killing 4-year-old Jacobi. Jones also wounded Marcelle and their 1-year-old daughter, Peyton, before shooting himself, prosecutors said.

“Mommy loves you and misses you,” Marcelle said Friday of her late son in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Circuit Judge Dennis Robinson Jr. later sentenced Jones, 31, of Rosedale, to serve life in prison plus 185 years for second-degree murder and related crimes.

“There’s no excuse or justification for these crimes,” Robinson said. “This was violent. It was senseless.”

Robinson lamented that, as the saying goes, bullets do not have names on them, except, in this case, they did: Jacobi, Peyton and Promyss.

Assistant State’s Attorney Madison Frank said Jones and Marcelle were in a toxic relationship, during which she or one of her family members called 911 on 24 occasions.

Frank said Marcelle wanted Jones to leave their apartment so she could have a peaceful Christmas.

Jones could have made different choices. Instead, he made a decision that destroyed numerous lives, Frank said.

Jacobi, she said, will never attend his first day of school or celebrate another birthday or Christmas.

“He will be forever 4,” Frank said. “And that’s not how life is supposed to go.”

Frank requested a sentence of life plus 80 years in prison, saying the community would be safer without Jones.

Jones’ attorneys, Baltimore County District Public Defender James Dills and Assistant Public Defender Erin Cullinan, argued at trial that investigators jumped to conclusions about the identity of the shooter. They said their client told first responders there had been a tussle over the gun.

“On its face, this case appeared very black and white,” Cullinan said. “This case is very gray.” The jury deliberated for about 20 hours.

She said her client was a good father who loved his children. Loved ones described him as happy, loving and full of life.

Cullinan asked for a sentence that would one day allow him to reunite with his loved ones: 30 years in prison. She then read a statement on her client’s behalf.

“All I have is hope, and that’s what keeps me going,” said Jones, who vowed to better himself in prison.

He added that he was not beyond repair.