Jail time, injunctions not enough to stop violent abuse from turning deadly

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After a daughter was killed and a mother badly hurt in an attack outside their St. Pete home, their family says something should have been done sooner to stop the man responsible.

Marqueita Maynard, who went by Rae, had just celebrated her 34th birthday in the Bahamas with her mother, Willie Maynard-Jones, who went by Ruthie, last week. On the day they returned home, December 6, the mother and daughter were attacked by Stanley Jones, Maynard-Jones’ ex-husband, according to police.

Rae was killed and Ruthie was badly injured.

Rae's uncle says she was an aspiring fashion designer and a tennis player, and she was a light to those who knew her.

“She was the type of person that, when she entered the room, she demanded your full attention,” said Tony Green, Maynard’s uncle and Maynard-Jones’ brother.

At the hospital Sunday, Green broke the news to his sister that her only child was gone.

“She was holding my hand when I told her and she just tell me no, no,” said Green. “But I had to explain to her she is resting in the arms of the Lord, and she’s not returning.”

Marqueita Maynard celebrated her 34th birthday the day before she was attacked and killed.

St. Petersburg police said Jones constantly harassed and stalked Maynard-Jones over the last year, even going to jail at one point.

In January, Maynard-Jones filed a restraining order against him. In February, Jones was arrested for stalking and released from jail in October, but the stalking began again.

Police responded to concerning calls on November 29 and December 1, a week before the stabbing. Green told FOX 13 Jones made threats to kill.

“I believe that the city of St. Pete Police Department could have done a great deal more to protect my family,” said Green.

He said the police failed his niece and his sister.

“When these women complain about these violent men, law enforcement needs to be more adamant about paying attention to those voices. It should not have to be heard from the grave you know what I mean,” said Green.

Police responded to 26 calls to Maynard-Jones’ house over the last year, and of those calls, six of them were for stalking complaints since January.

“Our detectives were very aware of this case. The victim, in this case, had done everything possible, had gotten injunctions, reported everything,” said Sandra Bentil, a St. Petersburg police spokesperson. “She did everything short of moving away.”

But it was not enough. Police said Jones was transient the entire time, making him tough to find.

“There are hundreds of injunctions out there, and unfortunately, we just don’t have the manpower to sit an officer out there at each victim’s home,” said Bentil.

While Green stays strong for his family, he has a message for his niece's killer.

“I pray and I ask God to touch his heart because his inabilities to deal with his failures has cost my niece her life and caused my sister to be fighting for her life,” said Green. “It’s important for him to understand that me, personally, I don’t hate him. But I hate his actions.”

Green said the tragic circumstances won’t bring out the worst in his family, instead, they will love and support each other. He said he is focused on helping his sister heal.

“It’s going to be rough for Ruthie because, even though she may recover from her wounds, mentally, she will not be the same. Her daughter was her world,” he said.