DC Man Gets 45 Years for Killing Mother of 8 in Apartment

A Washington, DC man was sentenced to 45 years in prison Friday for the 2022 shooting death of his children's mother, which happened with eight kids in the apartment.

Wonell Jones Jr., 38, received the sentence in connection with the July 2022 killing of 33-year-old Audora Williams, federal authorities announced.

On the afternoon of July 19, 2022, Jones went back to Williams' apartment in the 2900 block of Knox Place SE after a grocery trip with one of her young sons. Eight children were inside at the time: three of Jones' children, three of Williams' children, and a toddler and baby the couple shared. A temporary protective order Williams had obtained barred Jones from the home or from contacting her, with a trial on the order set for days later.

Prosecutors said Jones shut the bedroom door and argued with Williams, accusing her of seeing someone else. The dispute grew heated, and then shots were fired inside the room. Jones stepped partway out of the bedroom and fired more rounds before leaving the apartment, with all eight children still there. Williams was struck more than 20 times with two different guns and died from her wounds.

Jones left DC and was caught in Florida on Aug. 29, 2022. He was brought back to the District on Oct. 26, 2022, and has been held since. A jury found him guilty in July of first-degree murder while armed, firearm possession during a crime of violence, and two counts of unlawful firearm possession by a felon.

US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement: "Audora Williams was shot more than twenty times with two guns, an act of violence as staggering as it is senseless." She added, "The defendant fled, but he did not outrun justice." Jones must also serve five years of supervised release after his prison term.