Oakland Man Gets Life In Prison For Torture, Holding Girlfriend & Kids Hostage
OAKLAND (CBS SF) – A man has been sentenced to life in prison on charges including kidnapping and torture for holding his former girlfriend and their five young children hostage for 10 days at his North Oakland home in January.
Roy Jones, 49, also known as Stan Jones, was convicted of 16 felony counts on July 29, including torture, kidnapping for extortion, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment and child abuse.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Roy Hashimoto on Thursday sentenced Jones to a determinate term of 12 years in state prison plus an indeterminate term of 19 years to life.
Prosecutor Matt Foley, who called the case "one of the most disturbing cases I've ever seen," said Friday that Jones won't be eligible for parole for nearly 30 years, when he's close to 80.
Jones and his former girlfriend, who is 34, have known each other for more than 15 years and have five children together, three boys and twin girls ranging in age from 2 to 13.
Prosecutors said the ex-girlfriend and the children were visiting Jones at his house in the 4100 block of West Street on Jan. 14 when Jones suddenly ordered a friend to grab her and the friend complied by grabbing her from behind, putting her into a chokehold and dragging her down into the basement.
Foley said Jones forced the woman to remove her clothes and assaulted her, including by hitting her on her head with a hammer repeatedly until she lost consciousness.
Prosecutors said the ex-girlfriend woke up in a bathtub full of bloody water but then lost consciousness again.
When the woman woke up again, according to prosecutors, Jones accused her of stealing pills from him and beat her with a wooden stick and a hammer on multiple occasions.
Jones continued to keep the woman locked up for ten days, dead-bolting all the doors to prevent her from escaping, stopping her from dressing herself and prohibiting contact with the outside world, prosecutors said.
Jones also fed his ex-girlfriend pills to keep her sedated and unable to escape, according to prosecutors.
On Jan. 24, the woman was able to get her son to leave his cellphone in the bathroom and she was able to secretly call 911, prosecutors said.
But Jones refused to cooperate when responding officers arrived and a 10-hour standoff ensued, according to prosecutors.
Foley said Jones used one of his 2-year-old daughters as a human shield but a SWAT team eventually was able to safely rescue his ex-girlfriend and the children.
Foley said the former girlfriend "went through a horrible ordeal" and jurors in Jones' trial "were very sympathetic" to what she and the children had to go through.
Foley described Jones as "an incredibly violent man" and said "he committed crimes that you wouldn't want to believe are true."
Jones' lawyer, Darryl Billups, couldn't be reached for comment.
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