NEW ORLEANS — The daughters of Cassandra Jones, a New Orleans woman murdered two years ago, are speaking out about the accused killer who died this week in a Tennessee prison.
Twins Jaylan and Jania Blount, along with their older sister Akila Jenkins, say they are still struggling to process their mother's loss. B.J. Brown, 34, the man accused of killing Jones in June 2022, died while serving a life sentence for shooting a police officer during a traffic stop while on the run.
"I don't think we have faced the reality of our mom being gone, yet," Jaylan Blount said. Jania Blount added, " I haven't even started grieving."
Jones was murdered in the 1400 block of Iberville Street in New Orleans. Her daughters, now living in Jackson, Mississippi, expressed mixed emotions about Brown's death before he could face murder charges in Orleans Parish.
"We received justice through Jesus, not through the court systems since he's dead now," Jaylan Blount said. "It's sad that we weren't able to tell him how we felt directly."
Akila Jenkins noted, "We wanted justice through the court, but God had other plans for him. We just wanted justice for the crime he did to our mom and also learn the answers as to why he did what he did."
The Tennessee Department of Corrections confirmed Brown's death on Sunday, with no apparent signs of foul play.
For Jania, now a mother herself, the loss is deeply personal. "I'm a mother but I still need my mother," she said. "I need her support. I need her love, her caring. I need her to teach me the ongoing skills on how to be a mother because she was a wonderful mother to us."
The daughters said their mother loved New Orleans and her job as a deputy court clerk. They are now following in her footsteps in Jackson.
“Me and my twin sister, we took after her and now we’re working in the court system and hopefully our big sister will be able to start soon, too,” Jaylan said.
The sisters have also become victims' advocates, recently testifying on criminal justice reform legislation in Baton Rouge.
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