PINE BLUFF - A Pine Bluff man accused of killing his 8-month-old son is being held in lieu of a $225,000 bond in the Jefferson County jail.
Ivory Jones, 23, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the May 9 death of Ashton Jones.
The FBI is assisting the department’s investigation against Jones “because of the nature of the crime,” Pine Bluff Police Department spokesman Regina VonTungeln said Friday.
Kimberly Brunell, a special agent with the FBI’s Little Rock field office, said she could not confirm the agency’s involvement in the case but added that it’s “not unusual for a police department to request our assistance on certain cases.”
The Department of Human Services is also investigating the child’s death, VonTungeln said.
Police said the child’s mother told police that when she returned home from her night-shift job around 6 a.m. on May 9, Jones told her the baby wasn’t breathing.
The mother said Jones was the father of the child and lived with her.
The child’s cause of death has not been released, thoughinvestigators say he likely died from suffocation.
Pine Bluff Lt. Terry Hopson, who worked the scene, said on May 10 that there were no visible marks on the child and that he “was well-nourished and looked healthy.”
While questioning Jones about the baby’s death, police said, they caught him lying several times.
Initially, he said he woke up and found his dog lying on top of the baby, VonTungeln said, but “during the investigation, [a detective] determined he had enough evidence” to make an arrest.
Further details about the incident were not provided.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 18 on 05/19/2013