BALTIMORE — Anita Nicole Jones was handed down the maximum sentence of 13 years to the Maryland Division of Correction for the October 2017 fatal stabbing of her husband. A Baltimore City jury returned guilty verdicts after the trial on January 9, 2020 convicting Jones of Manslaughter and Carrying a Dangerous Weapon Openly with Intent to Injure.
Assistant State’s Attorney Adam Lane Chaudry prosecuted this case.
On October 13, 2017, Baltimore City Police Department Officers responded to the Johns Hopkins Hospital Bloomberg Building 9 North for initial reports of a suicide. Preliminary investigation revealed that Anita Nicole Jones along with the victim, identified as Jones’ husband Christopher Yancey, Sr. were inside an Intensive Care Unit hospital room on the floor with the door to the room shut. Per witness accounts, no one else was inside of the room nor were any disturbances heard or movements observed coming from the room.
Both Jones and Yancey were present at Johns Hopkins Hospital because one of their children was undergoing an emergency surgical procedure. At approximately 12:47 PM, Jones was observed running out of the hospital room, yelling to Hospital personnel that the victim cut himself. Hospital personnel immediately activated a medical code alert and responded inside the room, finding Yancey on the floor unresponsive from two apparent stab wounds in his neck area. Despite medical intervention, Yancey succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased.
Pursuant to the investigation, investigators learned that Jones informed hospital personnel that she and Yancey had a verbal dispute while inside of the hospital room. Jones also made a statement to the hospital personnel that she did not actually see Yancey injure or cut himself. Witness accounts noted seeing blood on Jones’ hand and outer clothing. Jones repeated similar statements to family members responding to the hospital that Yancey had cut himself.
Video footage later obtained from Johns Hopkins security captured Jones walking outside the hospital within minutes after the medical code alert for Yancey was initiated. Jones was captured on video walking to a garbage can located on Orleans Street, reaching into her pocket, and depositing an unknown object into the garbage can. Unfortunately, the video was discovered shortly after the trash was emptied in the can.
Additionally, Detectives were able to identify and recover a recorded jail call placed to Jones’ cellphone from an inmate at a correctional institution within fourteen minutes before the code alert was activated. Jones was recorded on the telephone call ranting for nearly thirty minutes about her frustrations with Yancey and stated at one point in the call that she was going to really going to hurt him.
“It is my hope this sentence will bring some closure to Christopher Yancey’s family and that Anita Jones will use her incarcerated time to reflect and grow from the horrific choices she made that day,” said State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.
