No plea as man accused of killing teen appears in court

Anthony L. Jones, the suspect in the killing of 13-year-old Genelle Conway-Allen, appears in Solano County Superior Court, Feb. 13, 2013. (Brad Zweerink/Daily Republic)

FAIRFIELD — The man accused of kidnapping, raping and killing a 13-year-old Suisun City girl made his first appearance in court Wednesday, but did not enter a plea.

Anthony L. Jones, 32, of Fairfield, was ordered to return to court Feb. 21 for his arraignment. His appointed public defender, Lesli Caldwell, asked Judge Peter Foor to postpone Wednesday’s arraignment so she could study the “thousands” of pages of discovery evidence.

Jones is being held with no bail.

It was the public’s first look at Jones since his arrest Friday, a week after police found the naked body of Genelle Renee Conway-Allen dumped in Allan Witt Park on Feb. 1. News outlets from around the region were on hand for the appearance and filled the courtroom.

Jones is accused of murder with three special circumstances, making him eligible for the death penalty. Those include kidnapping, rape and lewd and lascivious acts with a child, said Solano County Deputy District Attorney Terry Ray. Foor said the court would proceed assuming it would be a death penalty case, but no formal statement was made by the District Attorney’s Office.

Jones, who worked as a local barber, said little during his appearance other than that he was unemployed and sought a public defender. He also waived his right to a speedy trial by allowing the arraignment to be postponed.

Foor granted a request by Ray for a 30-day criminal protective order for Jones’ wife. Foor told Jones that he was not to contact his wife in any way.

Prior to Jones entering the courtroom, Caldwell asked Foor for a motion to exclude media from Jones’ appearance. Foor told Caldwell that she couldn’t make that request because she hadn’t been assigned to the case yet. He later denied the same request after Caldwell was appointed, saying the media was entitled to reasonable coverage.

Conway-Allen, a seventh-grader at Green Valley Middle School, was reported missing Jan. 31 by her foster family in Suisun City after she did not come home from school that day.

After her body was found the next morning, Fairfield and Suisun City police worked to reconstruct the teen’s movements the day she was reported missing, and to identify a suspect. The FBI and the California Department of Justice assisted local police in the investigation.

That effort culminated a week later with the arrest of Jones, who police said was identified as a suspect early in the investigation and was under constant surveillance up to the time of his arrest.

Police have not released the cause of death.

Reach Danny Bernardini at 427-6935 or dbernardini@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dbernardinidr.

Anthony L. Jones, the suspect in the killing of 13-year-old Genelle Conway-Allen, appears in Solano County Superior Court, Feb. 13, 2013. (Brad Zweerink/Daily Republic)

Danny Bernardini

Danny is a newspaper man born and raised in Vacaville. He attended Chico State University and has written for the Enterprise Record and the Reporter. Covers the City of Fairfield, education and crime. A's, Warriors and Saints fan. Listener of vinyl, frequent visitor to the East Bay. Registered "decline to state" voter. Loves a good steak.

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