PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Bucks County jury is now deciding the fate of a North Philadelphia man who is accused of shooting and killing two men at a campground near Quakertown two years ago.
Miles Jones faces two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Eric Braxton and Arthur Hill, who were killed at the Homestead Family Campground in West Rockhill Township in October 2019.
Prosecutors say after a night of drinking, Jones got in an argument with his girlfriend. It turned physical, and others at the campsite tried to calm him down. After someone punched him in the face, he sat in a car for about 15 minutes.
Witnesses said when he got out of the car, Braxton tried to calm him down. Then, they said, Jones shot Braxton point-blank in the chest and Hill in the back.
Jones' lawyer, Kenneth Hone, told jurors that Jones was alone, injured and outnumbered, and he "did something he never wanted to do."
However, prosecutor Ed Louka argued there are no elements of self-defense. Louka told jurors that Jones "wants you to believe that these people who held no tension toward him the whole night turned into an angry mob that refused to let him leave."
Prosecutors have filed to seek the death penalty, which means if Jones is convicted of both counts of first-degree murder, the jury would hear evidence on why or why not the 42-year-old should be sent to death row.
