David Bowens

LARONDA JONES' STORY

UPDATE: We are sad to report that despite a very strong response from our supporters, child killer David Bowens was granted parole and was released on October 1, 2019. Per Roberta’s Law he will be under supervision for five years. While this is not the outcome we had hoped for, we want to make it clear that the petitions submitted were not in vain. Laranda Jones had a powerful voice for the first time in her short life. This injustice is the result of failure by two government agencies: the Ashtabula County Prosecutor’s Office, who we were told by multiple sources did absolutely nothing to oppose this release, and The Ohio Parole Board. We hope Bowens is rehabilitated; however, if he commits any future crimes, we will hold both these agencies accountable for their actions. Laranda Jones will never be forgotten and we will continue our fight for justice with her in our hearts. We thank each of you who submitted a petition. You spoke loudly for Laranda and for that we will always be grateful.

A Horrific Beating

On July 21, 1988, Laranda Jones drank milk and juice that was in her family’s refrigerator. When Laranda’s mother’s boyfriend, David Bowens, learned the beverages were gone, he became irate and decided Laranda needed “corporal punishment.” This discipline included military-like drills that called for the young child to run up and down the stairs repeatedly. When Laranda complained of being too tired to finish, she was beaten with various blunt objects including a switch from a tree, a plastic pipe from a vacuum, an extension cord and a leather belt. The more Laranda protested, the more she was beaten. Finally, after being beaten unmercifully, Laranda bent over the stairwell. A few minutes later she would topple over the railing, falling to the floor. According to Laranda’s sister, who witnessed the beating, she looked like a “monster” and was bloodied when her ear got caught on a nail as she tumbled to the floor.

When Bowens realized Laranda was no longer breathing, he tried to give her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. When that failed, he put her in cold water in the bathtub. When he realized Laranda was still not breathing, Bowens and Laranda’s mother, who had been asleep, called an ambulance. Bowens put Laranda in a sundress and laid her on the floor. He then went and hid in the attic with the seven other children who lived in the household.

Once paramedics arrived on the scene, they were greeted by Laranda’s mother, Antonia Jones. Jones directed paramedics to the middle of the living room floor, where Laranda was lying wrapped in towels of ice. She had no pulse and was not breathing. While paramedics performed CPR, first responders asked Jones what happened and she stated Laranda had fallen down the stairs about 20 minutes earlier. She told the paramedics she and Bowens tried to revive Laranda using ice water and by lying on top of Laranda to warm her up. Paramedics were skeptical of this explanation because young children do not normally go into full arrest — no breathing, no pulse — just from a fall.

When medical professionals cut Laranda’s sundress, they discovered multiple U-shaped bruises on the side of Laranda’s body. When questioned about the bruises, Jones admitted that the child had “gotten a whipping.” Paramedics then advised firefighters to contact law enforcement.

Young Laranda was taken to Ashtabula County Medical Center at 1:45 P.M. She was pronounced dead less than an hour later. The county coroner’s office stated Laranda, whose death was ruled a homicide, died from blunt impacts to the head, trunk and extremities.

A Chilling Confession

Bowens told police he used corporal punishment on Laranda because she took milk out of the refrigerator, messed with the juice and left a faucet dripping. According to Bowens, he ordered Laranda to run up and down the steps. When Laranda became exhausted and sat down, Bowens said he hit her four times to get Laranda to get up. When she refused, he beat her more with a belt. Bowens said, “I kept hitting her with the belt, but she only got up and ran halfway and sat down on the step. She said she was sick and wanted to go to sleep, but she’s done that kind of thing before.” Bowens said he left and Laranda fell down the steps and would not get up. Bowens told authorities, “When I went in to get her up, she had spit and goo coming out of her mouth, like she was in shock, so I carried her up to the bathroom giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.” He said, “I put her in cold water, then I remembered that with shock, you have to keep them warm, so I took her out.” By that time, Antonia Jones was awake and he stated he told her to get the children out of the house and take them back to Washington D.C.

David Bowens and Antonia Jones were both charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. Bowens’ charge was later upgraded to murder.

Bowens Has His Day In Court

The trial of David Bowens began on June 6, 1989. Jones’ eight-year-old daughter, who witnessed the entire beating, testified regarding everything she saw.

Cuyahoga County pathologist Robert Challener, who stated Laranda died from multiple focal injuries, gave powerful testimony. He stated the injuries were inconsistent with falling down a flight of stairs or even a traffic accident. He said the force of the blows had to be great. “She was hit hard enough to scrape or abrade the skin,” he stated. “These were not gentle taps, they had to be very hard impacts.” Dr. Challener said that multiple wounds on the body were deep enough to cause severe muscle bruising on the back and buttocks. The doctor said two kinds of injuries were present; one type was U- or C-shaped bruises potentially caused by a belt buckle, and the other was linear-shaped marks caused by a stick or straight object. Dr. Challener told jurors Laranda’s death was not caused by one injury; it was the cumulative effect of all the injuries. “There were so many wounds that I lost count. It was better than 100 injuries, but that might be an understatement,” he stated. Dr. Challenger said Laranda likely died due the fact that when a person is struck or bruised, the injuries cause the blood vessels to dilate. Too much dilation can result in death because there would not be enough fluid volume to maintain life.

Bowens took the stand in his own defense and admitted administering corporal punishment. He claimed he questioned Laranda and another one of the children for drinking the juice and milk intended for the family for the third time in a week. When Laranda would not run the stairs, he spanked her with a belt. Bowens claimed Antonia Jones beat her daughter with a switch while she was lying on the floor complaining of a broken bone. Bowens claimed that when Laranda got up to eat breakfast in the dining room, she was spanked again for lying. He said he did not hit Laranda with a belt buckle and she was not hit more than 20 times. Bowens denied the statement he originally gave to police and said it was wrong. He offered no explanation for the over 100 bruises the coroner found on Laranda’s body. Bowens was the only witness for the defense.

When the six-day trial concluded, it took the jury only seven hours to find Bowens guilty of murder and child endangering. Bowens was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the murder charge and two to five years for the endangerment charge.

No Parole

David Bowens is a cold-hearted child killer. He used something as minor as drinking a milk and juice without permission as an excuse to wield unrelenting terror and abuse on a helpless young girl.

Based on his cavalier attitude and lack of empathy during sentencing, it is clear that David Bowens has no remorse for his actions. He simply does not think he did anything wrong and that what happened on that tragic day in July 1988 was an accident, even though the courts proved otherwise.

Releasing David Bowens at any point would be a complete injustice to Laranda Jones and would demean his cruelty to her. In addition, placing a ruthless child killer like Bowens back on the street would pose an immeasurable risk to the community, especially young children. To further the interests of justice and to protect society, we urge the Ohio Parole Board to deny parole for David Bowens and give him the maximum continuance of 10 years at all future parole hearings.