Shooting of girl, 4, by uncle, was accident, aunt says

The man arrested by Miami police as the suspected gunman in Saturday’s fatal shooting of 4-year-old Nyla Jones shares last name, blood and the Liberty Square neighborhood with the little girl.

And Ronald Jones’ sister, Sharonda Mitchell, said Sunday her 24-year-old brother feels gnawing regret over what she described as an accident.

“It’s eating him alive,” Mitchell said. “If he could give his life for hers, he would.”

She said she spoke to Jones earlier Sunday afternoon. He’s in Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on one count of second-degree murder and three counts of attempted seconddegree murder with a deadly Ronald Jones’ sister

weapon. He’s being held without bond. Jones’ only prior conviction in MiamiDade County was for petit theft in 2012.

Mitchell said the family’s feeling “confusion,” and says the details that paint her brother as just firing into a car with a bunch of kids are incorrect.

Other media outlets and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Miami police told them Nyla and two other kids were in a car with Nyla’s mother when Jones fired into it after an argument about money.

Mitchell says it wasn’t Nyla’s mother, but one of Nyla’s aunts with whom Jones was arguing. Also, she said, one of the kids in the car told her Jones didn’t shoot into the car. Jones was trying to take his gun off of him to place elsewhere when it went off, firing into the car.

In his anger over the argument, Mitchell said, “he probably snatched it off of him hard and it shot and went through the car.”

The two other kids were grazed by bullets or glass, Miami police Tweeted Saturday, and were “okay.” Nyla was hit by a bullet. Her mother drove her to Northshore Hospital, where she died.

Jones raced from the scene, wrecked his car on Northwest 62nd Street, then turned himself in Saturday afternoon, Miami police said Saturday.