Facebook beef led to fatal June shooting in Altgeld Gardens: prosecutors

A dispute that started on Facebook ultimately turned fatal in June when a 20-year-old man is alleged to have opened fire on a group of people that included his online adversary, prosecutors said during a court hearing Sunday.

The alleged shooter, Aireon Jones, was arrested Friday and charged with the first-degree murder of 24-year-old Jacquana Stanley, prosecutors said. Judge Charles Beach ordered him held without bail during his initial court hearing.

Chicago police

Just after 10 p.m. on June 30, Jones and two women stepped into the courtyard at Altgeld Gardens in the 13300 block of South Langley, prosecutors said. That’s when he encountered Stanley and two other males, one of whom had an ongoing Facebook beef with the alleged gunman.

Prosecutors said that individual charged at Stanley but lost his footing and slipped, at which point Jones pulled a gun from his waistband. As Stanley and the two others ran away, prosecutors said Jones moved toward them and fired multiple shots.

Stanley was struck in the lower back and taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead hours later, prosecutors and the Cook County medical examiner’s office reported.

Jones later admitted to opening fire when he was taken into custody, according to prosecutors, who said the entire incident was also caught on multiple security cameras.

Jones’ public defender, James Kozlowski, said his client is a lifelong Chicagoan who graduated from UCAN Academy and works at a Family Dollar store. Chicago police records show Jones was charged with battery in 2018, though the disposition of that case wasn’t immediately known.

In urging Beach to allow his client to post bail, Kozlowski claimed Jones was merely acting in self-defense after Stanley’s companion approached him aggressively. Beach rebuffed that request, noting the evidence presented by prosecutors.

Jones’ next court date was set for Tuesday.