URBANA — A woman described seeing two men shoot her cousin from a car parked outside her then-home in Urbana during testimony Monday, nearly three years after Kendall K. Jones was killed.
Brian J. Ferrell, 38, of Champaign is charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 11, 2021, death of Mr. Jones, 33. The state began its case in the bench trial Monday and will continue today.
During testimony, the woman said she was hosting a gathering on Sept. 10 at her residence in the 1400 block of Ivanhoe Way in east Urbana.
She said in the early-morning hours of Sept. 11, when she and Mr. Jones were the only ones left, another woman arrived at the residence, and they got into an argument before the visitor left.
Mr. Jones’ cousin testified that she could not remember what the other woman said, but added that she returned to her east Urbana residence about an hour later. When Mr. Jones’ cousin looked out her screen door, she saw the other woman and a white car parked outside.
She testified seeing Mr. Jones go outside to talk to the other woman and observing two men she was familiar with sitting in the white car, which was about 50 feet away from her door with its windows rolled down.
Ferrell was visible in the front passenger seat located closest to her door, the woman said. She said the driver was Jonathan E. Brumfield, 35, of Champaign. Brumfield has also been charged with first-degree murder in Mr. Jones’ death.
Mr. Jones’ cousin testified that she could not remember what the men said or which side started shooting first, but the two men and Mr. Jones eventually exchanged gunfire. She initially indicated she didn’t see her cousin with a gun but later admitted she saw him fire one.
After the woman saw Mr. Jones get shot multiple times, she performed chest compressions until Urbana police and first-responders arrived around 4:40 a.m. that Saturday. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Assistant State’s Attorney Joel Fletcher and Ferrell’s attorney, Hallie Bezner, both said that three .38-caliber bullet casings were found near Mr. Jones. A total of 10 9 mm bullet casings and 12 .40-caliber casings were located in the area where the white car was said to be parked.
Mr. Jones’ cousin did not immediately cooperate with Urbana investigators and was in police custody while testifying this week after the state was unable to locate her and obtained a warrant for her arrest.
After testifying, she was released from the order but transferred to Indiana for an unrelated pending criminal charge.
A series of surveillance video clips captured a white vehicle traveling west to a nearby residence on Hunter Street at 3:46 a.m. that day — to the residence of the woman who got into a dispute with Mr. Jones’ cousin — before driving to the 1400 block of Ivanhoe.
A search warrant that police carried out on the other woman’s phone showed that she texted a contact identified as her “cuz” around 3:45 a.m. to let her know when “y’all close.” Video surveillance showed two unidentified subjects get out of the vehicle outside the woman’s Hunter Street residence.
Police later carried out a search warrant on Brumfield’s phone and located a message sent to an unidentified contact around 6 a.m. on Sept. 11 that read: “That’s my mf cousin, tell her to stfu and get in line.”
An Urbana police detective testified Tuesday that he spoke with that woman in person Sept. 12 and she had injuries consistent with having been in a recent physical altercation.
Mr. Jones was out on bond at the time of his death after he was charged in July 2021 with attempted murder in an unrelated case.
Before that, he had been charged in May 2021 with reckless homicide with a vehicle for his alleged role in a 2021 crash near Mattis and Bradley avenues that took the life of Cong Nguyen, 47, of Champaign. He was released on his own recognizance in this case.
The state and the defense are both expected to rest their case today before Champaign County Judge Randy Rosenbaum.
Ferrell and Brumfield each face 20 to 60 years in prison if convicted of first-degree murder in Mr. Jones’ death. Brumfield is set to go to trial in September.
