Man convicted of killing friend’s former boyfriend

Stewart is found guilty of seconddegree murder

A Menlo Park man has been convicted of murdering his friend’s ex-boyfriend in a 2017 altercation in Belmont, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

After three days of deliberations, a San Mateo County Superior Court jury found Johvon Stewart guilty of second degree murder and other charges related to a shooting that left 24-year-old Dejohn Jones dead.

Just after 5 a.m. on Aug. 5, 2017, Jones showed up at the one-bedroom apartment of his ex-girlfriend, Jolie Harris, to pick up a television and other belongings he’d left behind after their recent breakup, prosecutors said. Stewart ended up shooting Jones multiple times.

But in the apartment were a handful of Harris’ friends, including then 27-year-old Stewart — who was identified by three people present as the shooter. Police quickly issued a warrant for his arrest, and he was taken into custody four days later at the Union City BART station.

An autopsy showed that Jones sustained four gunshot wounds, prosecutors said, including two in the back; he was unarmed.

During a three-week period after his arrest, Stewart called his girlfriend — who witnessed the slaying — to try to dissuade her from cooperating with cops, according to prosecutors. He told her his family would “be looking for her” if she kept talking.

That led to another charge of felony witness dissuasion, for which the jury also returned a guilty verdict Monday.

Stewart remains in custody on no bail status. His sentencing is scheduled for March 18.