Trial begins for woman charged in murder of Naperville man her son robbed, shot
A Chicago woman being tried for first-degree murder is no candidate for Mother of the Year, her attorney said Tuesday.
But Candice Jones, 43, should not be found responsible for the murder her son committed, even though she allegedly helped hide the body of Michael Armendariz of Naperville, attorney Alzetta Bozeman told a DuPage County jury.
"She did some bad things, but it didn't amount to aiding or abetting in a murder or an armed robbery," Bozeman said during her opening argument at Jones' murder trial.
Jones is charged, under the accountability standard, with murdering Armendariz, 20, in January 2018 in Naperville. His body was found months later in a recycling container in Chicago.
Her son and co-defendant, Ernest Collins of Rockford, was convicted of first-degree murder in September.
Collins' girlfriend, Cassandra Green, pleaded guilty in March 2022 to armed robbery with a firearm. Murder, kidnapping and concealment charges were dropped as a part of the deal, and she was sentenced to 21 years in prison. She testified against Collins and is scheduled to testify against Jones.
Armendariz's body was found in a trash bin in a yard in Chicago on May 31, 2018. He had last been seen on Jan. 14, 2018, when his roommate saw him get into the front passenger seat of a 1999 Ford Explorer in the parking lot of their apartment complex.
DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney Michael Paup said Green was driving, and Collins was hiding in the back seat beneath a blanket. Collins shot Armendariz twice in the back of the head.
In his opening statement, Paup told the jury Green will testify that she got out and threw up, that Collins put the blanket over Armendariz's body, and that he drove them to his mother's house. She will testify, he said, that the trio had planned throughout December to rob Armendariz, a friend of Green's, because he had posted a photograph on Facebook displaying money and drugs. Armendariz sold cannabis and a codeine/alcohol mix, according to Paup.
Paup said Jones ordered lockpicking tools for Collins to use to try to break into Armendariz's apartment and let him practice on one of her doors. But Bozeman said evidence will show Green ordered the tools.
Paup said Green will testify that Jones threatened to kill her and her family if she told anyone about the shooting.
"She (Jones) was key to directing these plans. She gave them (Collins and Green) everything they needed," including the car, a cellphone, the gun, and even coming out to Naperville to buy gas for them when they ran out of it while surveilling Armendariz, Paup said.
The body was found next door to Jones' home after she called 311 to report a foul odor, another prosecutor said at a bond hearing for Jones. That prosecutor said Jones told police she called 311 to free Armendariz's soul.
The trial resumes Wednesday morning.