A Maine woman's vigilant pursuit of justice for her murdered son came to an emotional climax yesterday as a Baltimore jury convicted a Woodlawn man of first-degree murder and five other felonies, nearly causing the mother to faint in the courtroom.
"The moment he pulled the trigger, he killed my son, my husband and I," said Yong Jones, who collapsed into the arms of her nephew after the verdict. "I waited four years, two months and 13 days for this moment."
James W. Langhorne, whom prosecutors portrayed as a marauding street thug who as a youth stole other children's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, sat expressionless as he was pronounced guilty in the killing of Laurence A. Jones Jr.
Outside the courtroom, Yong Jones, who made a 13-hour bus trip to Baltimore from Bangor, Maine, to attend the trial, sobbed and said, "This was all I wanted, fairness and justice. This is America."
The verdict in Baltimore Circuit Court ended her relentless efforts to push investigators, journalists, local politicians and even the president to find her son's killer. Laurence Jones' murder was unsolved for three years, and his mother sent dozens of desperate letters, pleading with authorities not to give up hope in the case.
Laurence Jones was 24 and had just moved to Baltimore from Bangor, hoping to attend the Johns Hopkins University's graduate psychology program. On Nov. 20, 1993, near his home in the 1400 block of Bank St. in East Baltimore, a mugger shot him in the face and stole his wallet and gold ring.
Police were initially stymied by the case because Jones was shot on a dark street, across from the Perkins Homes public housing complex, in the middle of the night and no one reported seeing anything.
Yong Jones appealed to numerous senators, attorneys general and the governors of Maine and Maryland to push to keep the investigation open.
At times, her vigilance caused friction with Baltimore police, who in March 1996 accused her of "applying pressure" on the department through politicians. She explained that the killing was maddening to her because her Korean heritage teaches that the soul of a person who has died of a violent act won't rest until the killer is found.
Eventually, she and the police reconciled and came to respect each other. After the verdict yesterday, she hugged Detective J. T. Brown, who solved the case, and Assistant State's Attorneys Ilene Nathan and Cassandra L. Costley.
