UPDATE: 2 p.m.
A Wilmington man has been convicted of second-degree murder in the January 2011 stabbing death of a 19-year-old man.
After a day and a half of jury deliberations, a New Hanover County jury returned the guilty verdict against Ronald Armond Farrow, who was charged with the death of Taaron Jones, who was fatally stabbed outside of The Rhino club on Jan. 24, 2011.
Superior Court Judge Ebern T. Watson sentenced Farrow to 273-337 months in the N.C. Department of Corrections.
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After four days of testimony, jury deliberations are scheduled to begin Thursday in the case of 33-year-old Ronald Farrow in New Hanover County Superior Court.
Farrow has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the stabbing death of 19-year-old Taaron Jones in the early morning hours of Jan. 24, 2011, outside of The Rhino Club, 125 Market St., which has since shut down.
“Taaron Jones was murdered…He had family that loved him and a mother whom you’ve seen day after day through the course of the trial. And she lost her son that night,” Assistant District Attorney Janet Coleman in her closing argument Wednesday. “Taaron Jones was drunk. And he was at The Rhino Club that night and when the club closed–-the bars closed–-he was acting like young men sometimes do.”
“West side is the best side,” sparked a fight in the street among 30 t 40 people. At some point during the fight, Jones was stabbed in the heart.
“Ronald Farrow was fighting…and he got knocked down,” Coleman said as she presented a photo from video footage obtained from a nearby Market Street business, which captured some of the fight. “There is no doubt whatsoever he was at the club that night. He was in a fight…he was pushed down in the fight [and] he wanted to put them in their place.
“He is seen in a photograph with something in his hand that he tells the police, ‘I had nothing in my hand. Not my phone, not anything.’ He wrecked his Mustang on Clay Street a few minutes later. And Taaron Jones’ blood was all over the steering wheel, the center console, the driver door interior.”
Samples of the blood were submitted to the state’s crime lab for DNA testing.
“All of the blood accept for one spot was entirely Taaron Jones’ blood,” Coleman said.
But Geoffrey Hosford, the attorney representing Farrow, said: “There is no evidence that Ronald Farrow caused any injury to Taaron Jones.”
“The State has the burden to prove the elements of the offense to you beyond a reasonable doubt,” Hosford said. “And when it comes to the evidence in the case…the State did not prove to you how Taaron Jones suffered that injury.”
Hosford said that video footage showing Farrow in a fight with another person was farther down Market Street than where Jones was killed.
“No evidence was introduced that Taaron Jones appeared anywhere in…any camera view that this camera produced on Jan. 24, 2011,” Hosford said. “There’s not a spec of blood in any of these photos. Anywhere…There is no evidence that Taaron Jones was ever in front of [the business].I submit to you, through circumstantial evidence, that he was not in front of [the business].”
Hosford said the man Farrow was fighting with did not have any other injuries besides those of being in a fight. “No cut…he didn’t have anything related to being hit by an object that produced an injury like a cut–like a knife–nothing. I submit do you that this is exactly what happened. This is exactly what Mr. Farrow told police. He was in a fist fight. He was in a fist fight with [someone else]. That’s the truth,” Hosford said.
As to the DNA evidence obtained by officers from the wrecked Mustang, Hosford said there were three people in the two-door vehicle.
“Who put the blood there? There are three possible people that could have put it there,” Hosford said. “It’s up to you to give the weight of [the analysis]…you do not have to accept the analysis as fool-proof.”
Read related coverage:
Murder trial continues Tuesday in 2011 Rhino Club stabbing death
Prosecutor: 19-year-old man stabbed in heart during Market Street melee
Murder trial to begin Wednesday in 2011 Rhino Club stabbing death
