SAN ANGELO, Texas — Jury selection was underway Monday in the murder case of Jakob Jones, a 23-year-old shot to death in a downtown San Angelo alleyway on New Year's Day 2024.
The man accused in Jones' murder, Ryan Joaquin Renfroe, was indicted on a murder charge in March 2024. Renfroe was also indicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the incident.
Tom Green County court documents show Jones died in the Fat Boss's Pub alley after he went there to meet Renfroe to settle a dispute over a road rage incident.
San Angelo Police Department officers responded to the scene, 114 S. Chadbourne St., and found Jones in the alley, a few feet away from Renfroe's pickup truck. Jones had "visual trauma to his frontal face area believed to be the result of being shot with a firearm."
Investigators found two bullet cartridges next to Jones's body.
According to the court documents, witness statements and Renfroe's statement given after the shooting differ.
Witnesses, who went to the alley with Jones, told police there had been a "road rage incident" between Jones and Renfroe and after arguing on social media, the two agreed to meet near Fat Boss's to "settle the dispute."
Renfroe's wife, Hanna Causey, who works at the bar, told investigators she was working at the bar and Renfroe was supposed to pick her up after her shift. She said she was inside the bar and heard two shots outside that sounded like "balloon pops". The man working security at the pub then ran inside and told her that Renfroe had just shot someone.
According to the documents, Causey went outside and saw Jones lying on the ground. She tried to perform lifesaving measures on him, but he "was not breathing, had no pulse, and appeared deceased."
Causey said she saw Renfroe on the phone, but did not speak to him. She confirmed to police Renfroe owned a 9mm handgun.
Jones' best friend told police that Jones told him a few days ago about the road rage incident that spilled onto social media before the planned meet-up. Cody Chambers said before they went to the pub, Jones told him there would be a physical fight. Chambers drove Jones and two other friends to the alley next to the pub and said Jones got out of the left rear passenger seat of Chambers' pickup truck to confront Renfroe. Jones was the only one who got out of the pickup.
Chambers said he heard two gunshots, then left the alley to call the police.
Christopher Torson, who was working security at the pub, said after closing time, he walked outside to throw the trash and saw Renfroe parked on the north side of the alleyway. Torson said he sat in his own vehicle, parked behind Renfroe's. He said he saw Chambers' pickup truck drive into the alley and pull up next to Renfroe, then heard two gunshots. After the shots, Torson saw Jones on the ground near Renfroe's truck with Renfroe standing near him.
Documents state Torson said the only two people he saw outside the bar were Jones and Renfroe. After he heard the shots, he drove out of the alley, parked on Chadbourne Street in front of the pub and ran inside to "tell the staff what he had seen."
Another of Jones' friend, Jase Wilson, said he was with Jones the day of the alleged road rage incident that spilled over to social media. He said he, Jones and Chambers exchanged messages with Renfroe. Early Jan. 1, 2024, Renfroe messaged Jones telling him to meet him in an alley near Chadbourne Tavern, 115 S. Chadbourne St.
According to Wilson, when they drove into the alley and saw Renfroe sitting in his truck, Jones got out of Chambers' truck to "confront and fight" Renfroe. He saw Renfroe get out of this truck with a gun in his hand, saw Jones and Renfroe struggle over the gun, then heard two gunshots.
Another person in Chambers' truck, Hyven Laurance, confirmed Wilson's and Chambers' accounts to police.
After receiving a Miranda warning, Renfroe agreed to speak to investigators. He confirmed the road rage incident and said he found Jones on social media and "the road rage incident continued on social media [Facebook] messenger." Renfroe said he gave Jones the location of Fat Boss's so they could resolve the incident and told him he wanted to mutually fight with Jones one-on-one.
Renfroe told police he was sitting in his truck when another truck pulled up next to him and three men got out. He said before he got out of his truck, he took his 9mm from the locked glove box. Renfroe said he heard "a slide from a gun being pushed forward". Jones approached him and started assaulting him, Renfroe said, then he was able to push Jones away and yelled at Jones to stop.
Jones started reaching behind his back to his waist band area and said, "The next one's a blade [explicative]", Renfroe said, according to the documents. And that's when Renfroe said Jones took two steps towards him and Renfroe shot him in the lower abdomen area. Renfroe told police Jones then lunged at him and he fired again, then Jones dropped to the ground.
Renfroe said he called 9-1-1 to report the incident and his intent giving Jones the location of the pub was to fight Jones one-on-one. He said he never saw two men with a gun or Jones with a knife after he shot him and didn't see any visible injuries on Jones.
Security camera footage from across the street from the alleyway showed at approximately 3:02 a.m. Jan. 1, Jones got to the alley in Chambers' truck, Jones getting out of the truck and Renfroe firing the first shot as Jones was walking towards him. A few seconds later, the documents state, Renfroe shot Jones a second time and Jones falls to the ground.
"The footage shows no one else exiting the dark colored pickup truck except the victim," the documents state.
Security footage from the west side of a neighboring church had audio and visual recordings of the incident, with time stamps of the meetup and subsequent shooting.
Tom Green County court dockets show proceedings are expected to continue through Nov. 21.