Steven Jones Sentencing

Steven Jones is a former Northern Arizona University student who shot four young men during a melee that spilled onto campus in October 2015.

Jones, now 20, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Colin Brough, 20, and aggravated assault for wounding three other students, Nick Piring, Nicholas Prato and Kyle Zientek.

Jones and three friends were walking to his car after attending a party in another apartment complex. When they realized one of the group was no longer with them, they stopped to call him in front of the apartment building where the party was taking place.

The people who lived in the apartment, including Brough and Piring, may have thought Jones and his friends were crashing the party. Or one of Jones’ group may have rung the doorbell as a prank, according to a police report. Something triggered a fight and Steven Jones was hit in the face and a chase began.

Steven Jones claims that he shot in self-defense after the mob of fraternity brothers chased and assaulted him and his friends while they had just been standing in front of the apartment complex where a party was going on.

Jones ran to his car in a parking lot across the street and on campus, retrieved a gun from the glove compartment and confronted the attackers.

Jones claims they charged him and he fired, killing Brough and wounding his roommate, Nick Piring.

Jones tried to render aid to the wounded youths, he claims, and says he was jumped by the crowd and fired blindly in the air. Those shots wounded two other students, Nicholas Prato and Kyle Zientek.

However, prosecutors say that Steven Jones was never in danger for his life, and that he returned to the fight with premeditation – and a gun.

The prosecution claim “The defendant then ran to his car, retrieved his gun and then went back to the fight.”

Under Arizona law, if found guilty of premeditated murder, Steven Jones would face a mandatory sentence of natural life in prison. The jury could come back with a lesser verdict such as second-degree murder or manslaughter, which could carry a prison sentence ranging from a few years to more than 20 years.

If the jury does find Jones guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter, instead of first-degree murder, the prosecution will seek an aggravated, or harsher, sentence because of the pain and suffering inflicted on the victims.

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