California prisoner charged in 1994 cold case murder of Renton mom, 3-year-old

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Man accused of murdering mom, 3-year-old son charged 28 years later thanks to DNA evidence

No one has been charged for the 1994 murder of 23-year-old Stacy Falcon-Dewey and her 3-year-old son Jacob Dewey, until prosecutors were able to match DNA found on Stacy to a suspect. Her mother says that DNA match was discovered in 2002, but she didn't find out about it until 2019

A man already serving a prison sentence for killing someone in California has now been charged by King County prosecutors for the 1994 cold case murder of a Renton mom and her 3-year-old son. 

On Oct. 28, 1994, 23-year-old Stacy Ann Falcon-Dewey and her 3-year-old son, Jacob, were found dead with gunshot wounds to the head. Their bodies were left on a dead-end road in Renton.

Falcon-Dewey, a single mother, was killed just five days after her 23rd birthday. 

According to court documents obtained by FOX 13 News, neighbors were woken up to the sound of gunshots and a woman's scream around 2 a.m., but went back to sleep thinking it was teenage partiers who frequented the secluded road. 

According to The Seattle Times, who extensively covered the cold case in a 2019 series called "In The Dark," during Falcon-Dewey’s autopsy, oral swabs and fingernail clippings captured DNA from an unknown man. That evidence was preserved and was positively matched to a man in 2002 when advances in DNA science were discovered. 

That DNA matched to 51-year-old Jerome Jones, according to The Seattle Times.

Photo from the Washington State Department of Corrections

Jones is currently incarcerated in Kern Valley State Prison, serving a 56-year prison sentence for killing a man in California back in 1995. 

However, the family of Falcon-Dewey said that years passed without any real answers or a break in the case. Falcon-Dewey's mother, 74-year-old Vianne Falcon, said she wasn't even aware that there was a DNA match.

"What a shock this is for me and my family. Finally, after 28 years since the murders and still wonder[ing] why there has been no charges since the DNA match was made in 2003. I am ecstatic that my daughter and grandson are finally going to get the justice that they so deserve. Now I will finally have some good news to take to her at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. That will be a time for celebration for sure," Falcon told FOX 13 News via email. 

A handwritten note from mother Vianne Falcon given to FOX 13 News

Jones has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder for the deaths of Stacey Falcon-Dewey and Jacob Dewey, according to court documents obtained by FOX 13 News. 

"The extraordinary violence and cruelty of these murders demonstrates the extreme danger he presents to society," prosecutors said of Jones in charging documents.

He will be extradited to Washington to face charges.  His arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 28 in Kent. 

See the full timeline of events, including previous suspects and stages of the investigation, in The Seattle Times series "In The Dark." 

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