Son charged with murder after mother found dead in church lot

Theresa Jones, a 61-year-old grandmother from California, was reported missing after she did not pick up a grandchild on July 7. After a multi-day search, officers located her car abandoned in the parking area of a Fullerton church on July 11, with her body inside. Video from nearby cameras captured the vehicle pulling up near the Fullerton Police Department on July 4, with her son Emmanuel Wesley in the back seat; Jones is shown collapsing in the driver’s seat before Wesley allegedly moved her to the passenger side, took the wheel, and drove off.

Prosecutors allege Wesley shot his mother twice in the back and have filed murder charges, adding a firearm enhancement that could carry a sentence of 50 years to life. He has entered a not-guilty plea and is being held without bail in the Orange County Jail. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer called the killing “another level of depravity” and pledged to pursue justice. Jones was remembered by family as a devoted Christian and beloved matriarch.