Prosecutor in Shinnecock case: Toddler beaten repeatedly

A Southampton man repeatedly beat his girlfriend's toddler son for four months before killing the child on the Shinnecock Nation reservation, a Suffolk prosecutor said Wednesday.

Pedro Jones, 20, confessed in an 80-minute video to beating to death 17-month-old Roy Antonio Jones III on Aug. 1 at the home he shared with the child's mother, Assistant District Attorney Robert Biancavilla said at Jones' arraignment on upgraded murder charges in Suffolk County Court.

An autopsy found the boy died from blunt force trauma to the head and torso, Biancavilla said.

Pedro Jones, who is not the boy's father and not a Shinnecock, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child. The charges are contained in an indictment handed up last week by a Suffolk grand jury.

The count of endangering the welfare of a child accuses Jones of beating the child multiple times since April 1.

Jones was ordered held without bail by County Court Judge James Hudson. He is due back in court on Oct. 5.

The arraignment was attended by more than a dozen members of the Shinnecock Nation, many of whom cried "yes" when Biancavilla said Jones could spend the rest of his life in prison if he is convicted of killing the boy.

It was unclear whether members of the boy's family were in court. Lance Gumbs, a senior trustee of the Shinnecock Nation, said tribe members turned out to support the family.

"It's a baby," he said. "The emotions are running high."

Outside court, Pedro Jones' mother and brother said he was innocent.

"I know my son and I know he did not do this," Linda Jones, of Bellport, told reporters.

Pete Lawrence, 29, of Bellport, said the charges against his brother were "trumped up.

"It's phony. My brother would rather die than see a child get murdered," Lawrence said.

Pedro Jones' attorney, William Ferris of Islandia, said prosecutors have no physical evidence linking Jones to the boy's death. "I intend to find out" whether police coerced Jones' confession, Ferris said.

Biancavilla said Pedro Jones, in a written confession and a videotaped statement, admitted killing the boy and repeatedly striking him since April. The autopsy showed the boy had wounds from previous beatings, as well as the internal and external injuries that caused his death, the prosecutor said.

"The injuries . . . were extremely, extremely egregious," Biancavilla said in court.

Records indicate Jones had not been charged with beating the boy before his death.

State Police, who investigate crime reports on the Shinnecock reservation, referred questions to the district attorney's office, which declined to comment.