The Keisha Jones Philadelphia murder case involves a South Philadelphia woman who was convicted of first-degree murder in 2012 for fatally striking her husband, Tyrone Taylor, with an SUV after an argument, and whose conviction and life sentence were later overturned by a Pennsylvania appeals court that ordered a new trial.1Justia. Commonwealth v. Jones, 3317 EDA 2012
The Night Tyrone Taylor Was Killed
Shortly before 2:00 a.m. on November 27, 2011, Taylor was struck by a 2002 Acura SUV on the 2400 block of Morris Street in the Grays Ferry neighborhood. Jones was driving. The couple had been married eight years and had two children together.2Philadelphia Inquirer. Woman Testifies Husband’s Death Was an Accident
They had been arguing inside the vehicle. Jones’s cousin, Tamara Stanford, was in the backseat and later testified that the fight involved accusations of infidelity. Taylor, who had been driving, stopped the car and got out, saying he wanted to go to his family’s house.3Philadelphia Inquirer. Trial Opens for Wife Who Crushed Husband With Car
Surveillance cameras captured the rest. The footage showed the Acura pulling to a curb, Taylor stepping out, and the SUV then turning right and accelerating toward him. It struck him and pinned him against a wall roughly 32 feet away. The vehicle paused, then backed up, and Jones was seen running toward her husband.4Philadelphia Inquirer. Wife Found Guilty in Car-Crush Murder Stanford testified that Jones jumped into the driver’s seat and hit the gas when Taylor was about six feet from the car. “She ran into him, ran into the wall, and by the time she back up he was flat,” Stanford told jurors.3Philadelphia Inquirer. Trial Opens for Wife Who Crushed Husband With Car
What the Prosecution Showed at Trial
The trial began October 23, 2012, before Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara McDermott and ran four days. The Commonwealth proceeded on charges of first-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime, with the SUV designated as the weapon.1Justia. Commonwealth v. Jones, 3317 EDA 2012
Two pieces of evidence carried the case. The first was the surveillance video. The second was a signed statement Jones had given to police, in which she admitted to “chasing” Taylor with the car and “stepping on the gas real hard” before hitting him. Detective Bamberski read the statement into the record verbatim. Investigators had also learned that Jones had, on two prior occasions during the eight-year relationship, chased Taylor with her car when she was angry.5Philadelphia Inquirer. Woman Faces Trial on Charges She Crushed Husband With Car
Jones’s Defense
Jones testified in her own defense. She said that after Taylor got out, she moved to the driver’s seat to follow him and try to bring him home, that her foot accidentally hit the gas, and that the gearshift stuck, causing the vehicle to lurch forward. She said she never saw Taylor walk in front of the SUV and did everything she could to stop. She had drunk three to four mixed drinks and four shots that night, and she claimed the detective had left her explanation about the stuck gearshift out of the written statement.2Philadelphia Inquirer. Woman Testifies Husband’s Death Was an Accident
Her attorney, Richard DeSipio, conceded that Jones caused Taylor’s death but argued she lacked the malice required for murder. He described her conduct as “killing someone, driving drunk” and noted she did not flee and was found holding her husband’s body.2Philadelphia Inquirer. Woman Testifies Husband’s Death Was an Accident
The Verdict and Life Sentence
On October 26, 2012, a jury of six men and six women found Jones, then 31, guilty of first-degree murder and possessing an instrument of crime. DeSipio later said jurors told him the surveillance video was the decisive evidence. The footage appeared to show the vehicle deliberately steering toward Taylor rather than following the adjacent street, cutting against her account of a mechanical accident.4Philadelphia Inquirer. Wife Found Guilty in Car-Crush Murder
Judge McDermott imposed the mandatory life sentence for first-degree murder. No additional penalty was imposed on the weapons charge.1Justia. Commonwealth v. Jones, 3317 EDA 2012 As the sentence was read, Jones cried out, “My kids! My kids!” She told the judge, “It was an accident. I did not do it on purpose,” and asked, “Who’s going to take care of my babies?”4Philadelphia Inquirer. Wife Found Guilty in Car-Crush Murder
Why the Conviction Was Overturned
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania threw out the conviction on August 15, 2014, and ordered a new trial. The reversal turned on what happened during jury deliberations.
While weighing its verdict, the jury asked to review both the surveillance video and Jones’s police statement. Court rules barred sending the written statement into the jury room, so Judge McDermott had the court reporter read Detective Bamberski’s testimony, which included the statement, back to the panel. The jury then asked to rehear Jones’s own trial testimony describing the incident. The judge refused, telling jurors their own recollection should control.1Justia. Commonwealth v. Jones, 3317 EDA 2012
The appellate court called that a “flagrant abuse of discretion.” Letting the jury rehear the prosecution’s version of Jones’s words while blocking her competing trial account created a fundamentally unfair imbalance, the court held, and the two accounts were directly at odds: the police statement had Jones admitting she chased Taylor with the car, while her testimony described an accident caused by a stuck gearshift. The Superior Court vacated both the conviction and the life sentence.1Justia. Commonwealth v. Jones, 3317 EDA 2012
Where the Case Stands
The 2014 ruling sent the matter back to the trial court. Available court records and news reporting do not show the outcome of any retrial or the current disposition of the case.