UPPER FREEHOLD: Three sentenced for hindering 2005 “Baby Bones” investigation

Three New York residents were sentenced last Friday for their admitted roles in the 2005 discovery of skeletal remains in an Upper Freehold Township park.

FREEHOLD — Three New York residents were sentenced last Friday for their admitted roles in the 2005 discovery of skeletal remains in an Upper Freehold Township park. The remains were later identified as those of a child who died several years before.
   The sentencing was announced by Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.
   Godfrey Gibson, 49, of Manhattan, was sentenced by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge John T. Mullaney to 364 days in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, Freehold Township, as a condition of probation.
   Likisha Jones, 39, of Manhattan, and James Jones, 36, of Brooklyn, were each sentenced to two years probation by Judge Mullaney.
   The three individually pleaded guilty in December to charges of third degree hindering apprehension of another and third degree conspiracy to hindering apprehension of another, according to a Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office press release.
   The charges stem from the unlawful disposal of the body of Jon-Neice Jones, 9, of Harlem, a child who died in New York several years prior.
   A joint homicide investigation undertaken by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police began March 18, 2005, after a partially buried skull and jaw bone were discovered by a hunter near County Road 526 in the area of Clayton Park in Upper Freehold Township.
   The investigation, later referred to as the “Baby Bones” case, revealed through DNA testing that the remains belonged to Jon-Niece. The investigation ultimately concluded that she died on August 15, 2002 at her aunt Likisha Jones’ residence in Harlem, following years of abuse and neglect by the child’s mother, Elisha Jones, according to the release.
   Detectives also discovered Elisha and two other individuals, Jon-Niece’s uncle, Mr. Jones, and Likisha’s boyfriend, Mr. Gibson, disposed of the girl’s body in Upper Freehold Township after lighting it on fire. Elisha subsequently died four months after her daughter in December 2002.
   The homicide of Jon-Niece Jones is still being reviewed by the New York County District Attorney’s Office, which does not comment on pending investigations.
   Mr. Gramiccioni said he is grateful for the assistance in the investigation by the New Jersey State Police, New York Police Department – Manhattan North Homicide Squad, New York City Administration of Child Services, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, America’s Most Wanted, which aired a program about the case in 2009, and the University of North Texas DNA Laboratory.
   The case was being prosecuted by Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Marc LeMieux and Thomas C. Huth, Director of the Office’s Major Crimes Bureau.