EVERETT — A man who shot and killed his neighbor through his apartment wall in south Everett while hallucinating was acquitted of murder this week on insanity grounds.
Mental health evaluations found Jeremy Jones, 42, was suffering from delusions when he killed Jeremy Anderson in March 2023, despite no history of mental health treatment.
In the run up to the shooting, Jones worried he was being spied on and accused neighbors of running a meth lab in the apartment complex at 8225 11th Drive W. To increase security, he put tacks on the windowsills and jingle bells on the blinds, he told a psychologist during an evaluation.
On the morning of March 1, 2023, Jones called 911, claiming his neighbor was yelling at him through the wall, “You’re (expletive) dead” and “I’ve got a gun pointed at you,” according to charging papers.
When officers came to the apartment complex, it appeared the neighbor, Anderson, had just gotten out of bed, according to the charges. Other tenants reported they hadn’t heard any yelling. After talking to Jones, officers determined he was likely experiencing a mental health episode. And since Jones seemed otherwise put together, they didn’t find an involuntary commitment for treatment appropriate. So they left.
The next morning, he reportedly again got the feeling the neighbor was trying to kill him and had hurt others in the complex. So he got out his shotgun, hid in his closet and eventually fired it four times, according to court papers.
“For me, it was a fight or flight moment,” Jones later told a psychologist. “I felt like my life was in mortal danger. I felt like I was about to die, and I had to shoot him before he shot me.”
Anderson, 45, was in bed, likely sleeping, at the time, according to court documents. He was rushed to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, where he later died.
Since the shooting, Jones had remained in the Snohomish County Jail. Prosecutors charged him with both second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter, allowing a potential jury to convict Jones of either charge. If convicted of the murder charge, he faced between 10¼ years and 18⅓ years in prison.
In August, a state psychologist noted in court filings that Jones couldn’t tell right from wrong due to his psychosis.
“Due to his delusional belief that his life was in imminent danger, Mr. Jones believed that his actions were necessary for self-defense, and he did not understand that they were wrong,” the psychologist, Jessica Hart, wrote in her evaluation.
On Monday, the defendant acknowledged killing Anderson and asked Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Cindy Larsen to acquit for reason of insanity.
Deputy prosecutor Cheryl Johnson agreed Jones should be acquitted and argued he should be committed to a state mental hospital. Larsen followed that recommendation, ordering he be taken to Western State Hospital within a week. As of Thursday, he remained in jail, records indicate.
In his 30 years as a lawyer, Jones’ attorney Peter Mazzone said this was only the second time he’d handled a case where experts from both the defense and state agreed a defendant was criminally insane.
“This is an extremely rare situation,” Mazzone said Thursday.
Jones is set to stay in Western State Hospital “indefinitely, possibly for up to life,” Johnson wrote in an email Wednesday.
The hospital will evaluate Jones periodically to see if he needs to stay there, Johnson wrote. While he was acquitted, he still loses his right to possess guns, she noted.
Jones had no felony convictions.
In late July, an Edmonds man who claimed he was possessed by demons was also acquitted due to insanity after he was charged with killing his wife.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
