A Maryland mother is pushing for change after she was shot and her child was killed
BALTIMORE -- Promyss Marcelle keeps her son Jacobi close to her heart. She wears a necklace with a "J" initial around her neck and a picture of him on her shirt.
It has been nearly two months since the bright, inquisitive 4-year-old boy was shot in their apartment in Rosedale, Baltimore County, on Christmas Eve.
"This is my baby, and even though my son is not here physically, my baby is here with me," she told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.
Promyss is haunted by why it happened and believes her son would still be alive today if police had done more to get the children's father, 30-year-old Mark Jones Jr., to leave her apartment.
"What should have happened was he should have been removed from my home," Promyss said. "If he was removed from my home, my son would be here."
The call for help
About 10 hours before the shooting, Promyss feared for her safety.
She said Jones was upset and repeatedly tried to start a fight, so she hid in the bathroom, turned on the shower and called 911.
"There's a female who called in whispering. We're not sure if she's in danger, but she's saying that she can't say what's going on," said a dispatcher in response to the emergency call in audio reviewed by WJZ Investigates.
"We were in my home where I'm supposed to feel safe. When I didn't feel safe, I called the people who were supposed to help me feel safe, which is the police," Promyss said. "I wanted peace in my home. It's two days before Christmas."
Promyss told WJZ that when officers arrived, they spoke to her and Jones separately. She does not believe all of them took her seriously.
"Police came, literally was laughing like it was a joke. Like literally was a joke," Promyss told Hellgren. "I felt like I was being judged automatically, and it's like—that's my home. It's my kids' home."
She said police told her because no crime had been committed and because they saw a piece of mail addressed to Jones on her coffee table, that was enough to show he lived there, and they could not remove him from the apartment.
She told WJZ Investigates he was not on the lease.
Officers gave her information on filing a protective order.
"A piece of mail shouldn't allow that. A piece of mail shouldn't allow my son to be gone," Promyss said.
"Where am I supposed to go?" she asked. "I had no vehicle. …They said I can either leave my home with my kids. I have no family in Maryland. So, I can either leave my home at eight something at night with my kids, or I can get a restraining order, but it still has to be approved from the judge or you have to go to court and it can take a 30-day process," she said.
Feeling she had no other option, Promyss said she stayed.
Hours later, violence erupts
Around 6 a.m. on Christmas Eve, according to charging documents, Jones came into Promyss's bedroom while she was sleeping with the children and began arguing.
Four-year-old Jacobi pleaded with him to leave.
According to those documents, he then took a gun from a backpack, a gun police say was registered to him.
Documents stated Jones loaded the magazine with bullets and opened fire.
Police said he shot Promyss in the head, shot their 1-year-old daughter Peyton in the arm and he shot and killed Jacobi.
He then shot himself in the head and called his own mother on FaceTime and told her, "I couldn't take it anymore," according to charging documents.
"I went running for help. I'm not supposed to be here," Promyss said.
"Never knew he had a weapon"
"I never knew he had a weapon inside my home," Promyss said. "That's No. 1. I never knew. No. 2: I don't know what the police see, like from their end, because they see more than us, but if y'all see that he is a registered carrier—can have a gun—the situation should have been taken way more serious. Way more serious."
Promyss praised one officer who stayed with her in the hospital providing crucial support before her family arrived.
Police response
Baltimore County police declined an interview but told WJZ Investigates in a statement, "Officers responded to a verbal disturbance at the location. Both individuals resided at the location and the protective and peace order procedures were explained. Visible injuries were not observed by officers on the scene."
Police also referred Hellgren to comments the chief made the week after the killing.
"We're focusing more on resources and how we respond to domestic violence incidents and even the potential for additional violence," Chief Robert McCullough told WJZ's Kelsey Kushner at the time.
Jones is facing a possible life sentence and is being represented by the Maryland Office of the Public Defender. His lawyer declined to comment.
Data team domestic violence findings
The CBS News data team found domestic violence remains a major issue in Baltimore County with 766 domestic violence-related aggravated assaults in 2023 alone.
In December 2024, when Promyss was shot, 220 people in the county asked for domestic violence protective orders.
The latest preliminary statewide numbers from the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence reveal 40 intimate partner homicides last year alone.
Black women accounted for 45% of those killed despite making up 15% of the population. Guns were used in 60% of the killings.
"What we're seeing here with domestic violence in Maryland is that the problem is not going away," said Adam Rosenberg, the executive director of LifeBridge Health's Jill Fox Center for Hope. "People don't really realize the impact of guns and how they are a force multiplier for domestic violence. The presence of a firearm makes it five times more likely that a domestic violence situation turns into a homicide."
Remote protective orders
Rosenberg said in cases like these, there are ways to get a protective order that do not involve going to the courthouse.
"One of the better things to come out of COVID is that we can do remote protective orders," Rosenberg said. "The survivor of domestic violence, someone looking to escape intimate partner violence, can go to a rape crisis center, a domestic violence center, a hospital, a child advocacy center and apply for a remote protective order by video."
Rosenberg added, "And so the old rubric of having to go down to the commissioner or the court to get this protective order has been replaced by the magic of video. We need to use those tools. We need to make sure that our advocacy agencies are using them, and most importantly, we need to get that message out there to people looking to escape situations who are in harm, that they can get that remote protective order as quickly as now."
Rosenberg said Promyss should never have been left to fend for herself.
"We shouldn't leave it up to the victim to be able to solve this on their own. We know when families and people are in crisis, and we should be able to help out there," he told Hellgren.
Rosenberg said, "The worry is that every one of these domestic violence calls could turn into a fatality. I think that's something that weighs on everybody's mind there, and if that's the standard that exists—that a piece of mail alleging residency is not enough to at least temporarily separate parties there—then legislatively we need to look into that, or procedurally, we need to look into how to make these responses better for our first responders who show up to be able to help make decisions that don't result in someone getting shot afterwards."
The funeral
Promyss Marcell laid her son Jacobi to rest on January 10 and invited WJZ to the funeral.
The little boy loved dinosaurs, and there were many surrounding his tiny casket. His name was spelled out in the same font as "Jurassic Park," one of his favorite movies.
Weeks later, Hellgren asked Promyss how she would like people to remember Jacobi.
She began to cry.
"My son was amazing. Innocent. Innocent! Never did anything to anybody. He was intelligent. Loved school and loved his family," she said. "And now my baby is gone."
Jacobi's Law
Promyss Marcelle now wants to pass "Jacobi's Law." She is hopeful new legislation could assist first responders to better help victims in cases like hers.
At a minimum, she wants to tell her story so this never happens to another mother.
"I'm not going to stop. If I can help the next family, if I can help the next mom or dad or if I can help the next child, I'm going to keep pushing until something changes and I'm not going to stop," Promyss said.
Helping domestic violence victims
Resources are available for victims of domestic violence.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE).
People can also text the hotline at 88788 and type "BEGIN" or chat online here.
In Maryland, anyone with questions may also call 211.
Here are more links to shelter, counseling and other resources.
Here is information on filing protective orders.
