MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The mother of a TSA Agent who was gunned down in front of her toddler is marking the one-year anniversary of the brutal murder with a celebration of life and a desire to see the ones police say are responsible convicted.
Prosecutors say the killing was a murder-for-hire plot that was bankrolled by federal funds.
Le’Shonte Jones was very loved by her family, siblings and young daughter.
Now the family is learning how to live without her.
They will be marking Tuesday’s anniversary of her murder by gathering at a southwest Miami-Dade park for a balloon release tribute.
For Darlene Dukes, Jones’ mother, it’s the silence of her cell phone that sparks a daily jolt of pain.
“It’s been a whole year, it is the longest I have ever been away from one of my children. I miss her calling me,” Dukes said. “Me and her talked about a lot of stuff.”
The vacuum of her daughter’s presence is a daily reminder of her brutal murder one year ago.
“When I heard they killed her it is like my body went numb, sometimes I think, ‘This can’t be true, this can’t be my life,’” Dukes said. “I know God say won’t give you nothing you can’t handle but, it has been a whole year, and sometimes I wake up and say, is this really real?”
Investigators say Jones was killed in a murder-for-hire plot funded with a pandemic-era paycheck protection program loan.
Police say the mastermind is Jasmine Martinez, who documents show had been harassing Jones for years.
Dukes says it started with a disagreement about a boy.
“I just never knew it would come to this, for her to have her murdered,” she said. “My daughter never had a fight before in her life, no enemies, until she met her.”
Police says Martinez hired a man to kill Jones. He shot and killed her as the young mother was holding her little girl Alaiyah, who was grazed by the gunfire.
“She has grazed wound right here,” Dukes said, pointing to the child’s ankle). “Bullet fragments right here and right here,” she added, pointing to the child’s side and back. “And a little bit here too,” she said while pointing at her wrists.
Dukes twin daughters Darneesha and Darneeka are now raising Alaiyah with their own children. They say the girl remembers the trauma.
“She remembers everything, everything,” said Dukes.
The family also wants the girl to remember the love from her mother, showing the child videos of Jones singing to her.
They have also added Jones’ voice to a teddy bear, so the now 4-year-old can hear her mother.
“She talks about her every day,” Dukes said.
The family is now looking ahead to upcoming criminal court proceedings, hoping for a conviction.
A total of three people are facing charges.
Dukes said Alaiyah told her on Monday that those people owe her an apology for taking away her mother.
Alaiyah is making a Mother’s Day card at Pre-K this week and asked she can leave it at her mother’s stone on Sunday.