Jury deliberations underway for Baltimore County father accused of shooting family

Jurors deliberated for roughly two and a half hours Friday in a high-profile domestic violence case in Baltimore County before a judge sent them home for the weekend. 

They will resume their deliberations on Monday in the murder and attempted murder case against Mark Jones Junior. 

Prosecutors accuse Jones of shooting his one-year-old daughter, Peyton, in the shoulder and shooting his four-year-old son, Jacobi, in the head in 2024.

Jacobi died, but Peyton survived. 

Jones is also accused of shooting the children's mother, Promyss Marcelle, in the head. 

Marcelle survived her injuries, which she called "a miracle."

She previously told WJZ Investigates she called police for help 10 hours before the shooting, fearing violence, but the officers saw a piece of mail addressed to Jones and said they could not forcibly remove him from the Rosedale apartment. 

"Toxic relationship"

In closing arguments, prosecutors detailed what they called a "toxic relationship" between the couple and a struggle over power and control.

They had been arguing for days, exchanging numerous texts, but the prosecution said Marcelle was always clear that she wanted Jones gone. 

"I'm begging you to leave my apartment," she said in one text. "I don't want you here."

Jones replied, "I don't have to leave." 

Marcelle sent more texts pleading with Jones to leave, with no success, on Christmas Eve morning between 6:12 am and 6:29 am. 

In Jones' final text before the shooting unfolded, he told Marcelle, "When you stop the child support, I'll leave."

Marcelle replied, "I'm never stopping it."

Moments later, prosecutors said Jones stormed into the bedroom where Marcelle was sleeping with their two children and opened fire with a gun registered in his name.

"Every pull of the trigger was a choice. Every pull of the trigger was premeditation," Baltimore County prosecutor Madison Frank told the jury in her closing argument.

Defense attorney claims police rushed to judgment

Erin Cullinan, one of the public defenders representing Jones, argued there was a struggle for the weapon and said Marcelle may have pulled the trigger.

She said police automatically assumed her client was the suspect from the start, questioned the thoroughness of their investigation, and accused detectives of a rush to judgment.

"The officers did not want to hear what Mark Jones was saying. The die was cast," Cullinan said.

Prosecutors stressed, "All [Marcelle] wanted was to be left alone."

Marcelle and her family watched the closing arguments from the gallery in the courtroom. 

She testified against Jones earlier in the trial.

Stay with WJZ and CBS News Baltimore for updates on a verdict as jurors head back to court Monday morning.