It Stings

IT STINGS

The Murder of Gregory Beauchamp and the Case That Would Not Die

On a cool, rainy New Year's Eve in 2002, twenty-one-year-old Gregory Beauchamp was standing with friends at Liberty and Vine in Cincinnati when a dark-blue Cadillac approached the intersection.

The men inside yelled anti-gay insults. A Mountain Dew can was thrown toward Gregory. He picked it up and tried to throw it back.

Then came the gunshots.

Gregory walked only a short distance before collapsing. He managed to get back to his feet and told his friends that his chest was "stinging." Moments later, he collapsed again. The wound looked small from the outside, but the bullet had passed through his heart and right lung.

By the time Cincinnati homicide detectives arrived, the Cadillac was gone and no one could identify the shooter.

The next day, police found a burned Cadillac matching the witnesses' description. Its temporary tag led detectives to the owner, then to the men who had been inside the car that night. Crimestoppers tips, street information, jail interviews and witness statements gradually pointed toward Jerry "J-Rock" Jones.

One occupant said the shots came from directly behind him, from the seat where Jones had been sitting. Another said he saw Jones with a gun immediately afterward. Others later reported admissions Jones allegedly made about the shooting.

Seven months after Gregory's murder, detectives believed they had enough. A murder warrant was signed and Jones was arrested.

Then the case fell apart.

Two key witnesses backed away from what they had told police. The grand jury did not indict Jones, and the prosecution ended.

The homicide investigation did not.

For years, detectives continued gathering statements, recorded prison calls, alleged admissions and new witnesses. Some had criminal records. Some wanted consideration in their own cases. Some changed their stories. Others waited years before admitting what they knew.

Their accounts did not always agree.

Rather than smoothing those contradictions into a cleaner story, It Stings follows them as they appear in the actual case file, showing the difference between believing you know who committed a murder and being able to prove it in court.

Years later, Cincinnati's Cold Case Squad returned to Gregory's case. New interviews were conducted, old evidence was reexamined, and in 2009 Jerry Jones was indicted for murder.

This time, the case reached a jury.

There was no murder weapon. No DNA or fingerprint placed the gun in Jones's hand. The eyewitness at the scene could describe where the shots came from but could not identify the shooter's face. Several important witnesses had criminal histories, prior inconsistent statements or reasons for the defense to question their credibility.

The jury had to decide whether a group of imperfect witnesses was independently describing the same murder-or whether years of street rumors, changing memories and criminal relationships had built a case around the wrong man.

Written by retired Cincinnati homicide detective Jeffrey C. Schare, one of the detectives who responded to Gregory's murder and worked the original investigation, It Stings is based on the actual homicide file, investigative reports, recorded interviews, police communications, evidence records, prison calls, court transcripts and appellate proceedings.

At its center is Gregory Beauchamp-a young man interested in music and clothing design, preparing to move into a new apartment and pursue plans of his own when a few violent seconds ended his life.

The investigation lasted years.

The loss did not.

It still stings.