Man convicted in Baldwin County of Aggravated Assault and Home Invasion

Josquarn Lewis was charged and tried for two counts of Aggravated Assault and one count of Home Invasion – 1st Degree. Lewis and the mother of his child, Zaelon Jones, had a tumultuous relationship and the two had been broken up for several months, but stayed in contact in order to coparent their child. Prior incidents of violence by Lewis against Jones were presented at trial. On March 26, 2024, Lewis showed up to Jones’ job at Hancock State Prison around 5am. He then pulled his AR-15 out of his car, threatening to kill Jones and himself. On March 27, 2024, Jones’ close friend whom Jones would occasionally stay with, called BCSO to have Lewis trespassed from her apartment in 49 West Apartments because Lewis came to her door with his AR-15 asking where Jones was. Jones also applied for and received a TPO against Lewis on May 1, 2024 for an April 26, 2024 incident where Jones drove to Lewis’ mom’s house in Sparta so her and Lewis could take their son to the daycare for picture day. Upon arriving, Lewis pointed his AR-15 at Jones and shot the gun near her head. The TPO, filed in Hancock County, was never officially served on Lewis, but there was evidence presented that Lewis reached out to Jones inquiring about whether a TPO was in place.

The incident Lewis was on trial for stemmed from the morning of May 10, 2024. Lewis, a resident of Sparta, drove to Milledgeville to find Jones around 6am, claiming that he was “worried” about their son who hadn’t been to daycare in the days preceding May 10. Lewis drove by Jones’ grandma’s house, Jones’ permanent address at the time, where Jones saw Lewis as she was putting their son in the car to take him to daycare. Jones then drove to the daycare in Sparta, where Lewis saw Jones and their son before Lewis drove off. Lewis then drove back to Milledgeville, arriving at 49 West Apartments, apartment T4, where Lewis knew Jones sometimes stayed with her friend. Lewis, knowing he had been previously trespassed from 49 West, parked in the front of the complex, near building E, and walked through the woods to the back of the complex, arriving at building T, while carrying his AR-15 in his hands. Lewis then waited in vacant apartment on the bottom floor for Jones to come downstairs, at which point Lewis swung the door open and pointed his gun at Jones. Jones screamed, which led to her friend calling 911. Jones was able to push away from Lewis and began running up the stairs to apartment T4. Lewis followed Jones and shot through the front door of the apartment while Jones and her friend were trying to shut and lock the door. That shot struck Jones in the inner thigh. Lewis forced his way into the apartment, chasing Jones around while blood from her leg traced their path. Jones’ friend ran out of the apartment, still on the phone with 911, despite the fact that she had been sleeping prior to the shooting and was completely nude. Back in the apartment, Jones attempted to escape, but fell behind the front door. Flightpath analysis of the bullets confirmed Jones’ story that Lewis then shot at Jones twice more while she lay on the ground, striking her in the chest. Jones also had her 9mm pistol with her, but was only able to shoot one round before the gun jammed. No additional evidence of the 9mm being shot was found at the scene. Lewis fled the apartment, running back to his car near E building. Jones’ friend had run in the same direction and detailed to 911 as she watched from behind another car how Lewis arrived back at his car, put the gun in the backseat, and then drove off. Despite being shot at least two times with Lewis’ AR-15, Jones was able to get out of the apartment, down the stairs, and into her car where she drove herself to the hospital.

After a two day trial, Lewis was convicted of all counts on August 7, 2024. Lewis was sentenced to 20 years on each count to run consecutive, for a total of 60 years, with the first 45 years to serve in the Department of Corrections. This case was tried by Sydney E. Segers and Savanna Neal. The DA’s Office would like to thank the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office CID for their hard work and help during the investigation and prosecution of this case.