From the blaring rap music to the sporadic clash of pool balls atop bright blue felt, it was a normal Saturday night at Jay’s Downtown Sports Lounge.
Right down to the serving tray of tequila shots.
Tyler Jones’ family and friends grabbed the clear plastic cups and raised them to toast Jones, 23, who was shot and killed around the corner from his favorite bar a week earlier.
The Fredericksburg Police Department has made three arrests in connection to Jones’ slaying and says its investigation is ongoing. Elijah Musgrove, Izaiah Daniels and Eric Costley have each been charged with second-degree murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
But Saturday was about Jones, a Jay’s regular who loved sneakers and smoking weed.
“He was such a sneakerhead,” said Jones’ older brother Will. “Nikes, Jordans, everything. Even the ugly shoes he loved the most.”
Will Jones said his brother could be short-tempered — even aggressive — but that his gruff exterior was a product of being fiercely protective of those he loved. Jones and his two siblings grew up in Dumfries and moved to Fredericksburg when Tyler was in eighth grade.
“We got away from all that shit,” Will Jones said.
Recently, Tyler Jones had gotten a warehouse job at Genesis Logistics, a distribution plant in Stafford County. And he was giddy about the prospect of becoming an uncle: their younger sister, Summer, is due any time now, Will Jones said.
“He got himself out of that troubled lifestyle, and he was becoming the man he needed to be for our nephew,” Will Jones said. “He was getting his shit together.”
Tea candles spelling out ‘Tyler’ sit on a decorated table during a celebration of life for Tyler Jones at Jay’s Downtown Sports Lounge in Fredericksburg on Saturday. (Photo by Tristan Lorei)
Jay’s general manager Dawan Burrell emphatically stated that Jones’ death didn’t stem from an incident at the establishment, noting that sentiment on social media had insinuated as much. A $10 cover at the door Saturday will be donated to Jones’ family to go toward funeral expenses.
“He always stood up for his friends,” Burrell said of Jones. “We lost him too early from something that shouldn’t have happened.”
Kristin Warren, one of Jones’ favorite bartenders, described him as a weekly patron and recalled how he high-fived her without fail upon entering the bar.
“I just wish everybody that would come into that establishment had the same energy from start to finish that Ty had,” she said. “He never started any problems. He was super laid back, super respectful.”
Earlier this week, friends and family assembled a makeshift sidewalk memorial on Charles Street, near the site of the shooting. On Saturday, white tea candles spelled out “TYLER” on a long table at Jay’s. Gathered around it, his friends and family wore red T-shirts (his favorite color) with his photograph: beaming, with wings and a halo above his head.
Around 10:45 p.m., someone came back with a second tray of shots. Once again, cups were claimed and raised to the heavens.
“For my little brother Tyler,” Will Jones said. “Party like he’d want us to.”
Free Press reporter Taft Coghill Jr. contributed to this report.
