A Hamilton County Criminal Court jury late Thursday night found 29-year-old Iesha Ariona Jones guilty of first-degree murder in the Sept. 3, 2018 homicide of 52-year-old Norman Sullivan.
She received an automatic life sentence, which means she must serve at least 51 years before becoming eligible for parole.
Ms. Jones was also found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and especially aggravated robbery.
She was found guilty of reckless endangerment in connection with the victim’s brother, Wayne Sullivan, who said she pointed a pistol at him and fired, but the gun jammed.
Assistant District Attorney General AnCharlene Davis said the murder occurred at the victim’s home in an apartment building in the 2100 block of Vance Avenue. She said Jones, and Domanic Gillespie, her husband at the time, went to the apartment with the intent to rob Norman Sullivan.
She said the robbery did not go as they had planned. Norman Sullivan and Gillespie went into a bedroom ostensibly to conduct a transaction. She said what Norman Sullivan handed over wasn’t enough for Gillespie.
After a brief exchange, the two men got into a physical altercation. During the altercation, the two men burst through the bedroom door and landed on the floor. That’s when Ms. Jones obtained Gillespie’s gun and the gun’s magazine which had fallen to the floor. Ms. Jones inserted the magazine back into the gun and fired at Norman Sullivan, prosecutors said.
The medical examiner said the victim was shot in the neck and the side of the head.
Executive Assistant District Attorney General Cameron Williams tried the case with General Davis.
Judge Don Poole set a sentencing date on the remaining counts for April 25.
A trial date for the co-defendant in the case, Domanic Gillespie, will be determined later.