• Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge sentenced Sha’King Jones, 27, to 24.5 years to life in prison, according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.
What was he convicted of?
• A jury found Jones guilty of two counts each of murder and felonious assault and one count of having weapons while under disability.
• He was found not guilty of one count of aggravated robbery.
Who was involved?
• Jones was accused of shooting and killing 30-year-old Darnell Pate Jr. outside Napoleon’s bar.
• Pate reportedly worked at the bar occasionally as a security guard.
• He also previously worked in law enforcement. Pate briefly served as the interim chief of the New Vienna Police Department and worked for police departments in Addyston on the west edge of Cincinnati and in New Holland near Washington Court House. According to WXIX in Cincinnati, he was terminated from his roles with Addyston and New Vienna.
• Julien Swindle was accused of being Jones’ getaway driver.
• Swindle pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and involuntary manslaughter charges and was sentenced to 15 to 19.5 years in prison, according to court records.
What was Jones accused of?
• Montgomery County sheriff’s deputies responded to Napoleon’s at 4150 Germantown Pike for a person shot in a vehicle shortly before 3 a.m. on Jan. 29, 2024.
• Deputies found a vehicle running with the passenger door open. Pate was dead in the driver’s seat, according to the prosecutor’s office.
• Investigators determined Jones arrived in a stolen Hyundai Tucson and shot Pate, according to Montgomery County Municipal Court Western Division records.
• Crews found the Hyundai crashed and abandoned nearby on Ericson Avenue. Jones’ cellphone confirmed his location for the time of the shooting, according to an affidavit.
• Investigators identified Jones as the shooter using surveillance video, cellphone records and fingerprints, according to municipal court records.
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