Jamill Jones (Wake Forest University)
July 24, 2020 By Allie Griffin
A former Wake Forest basketball coach avoided jail time at his sentencing Thursday for the ‘one punch’ death of a Florida man in Long Island City two years ago.
Jamill Jones, 37, of North Carolina, was sentenced to three years’ probation, 1,500 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Thursday.
He was found guilty of third degree assault in February for slugging 35-year-old Sandor Szabo who died days later in 2018.
Szabo had just attended a family wedding and was walking near his hotel in Long Island City shortly after 1:40 a.m. on Aug. 5, 2018. He wandered over to Jones’ SUV and drunkenly banged on its rear window, according to trial testimony.
He ran off, but Jones got out of his car and chased him down. Jones, who was also staying in a hotel nearby, punched Szabo once in the face, causing him to fall to the ground and hit his head on the concrete pavement, according to testimony.
The Florida man was taken to a nearby hospital for a skull fracture, traumatic brain injuries and a laceration on his chin. He died of his injuries two days later.
Szabo’s family believes he was looking for his rideshare vehicle and mistakenly banged on Jones’ window.
District Attorney Katz condemned the violence in a statement.
“This was a tragic incident that ended the life of a man and devastated his family, a violent run-in that should never have happened,” she said. “Violence is never the answer to settling a dispute.”
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2 Comments
What an absurd verdict. I understand a decision like this if Jones was being assulted or his life was in danger. Rather, his car window was hit (not damaged) and he aggressively pursued Szabo and attacked him. Why is this not a felony case? Both parties were wrong, but one gets to carry on with life after a very light sentence.
A slap in the face to the family of Sandor Szabo. If it were the other way around Szabo the deceased stricking Jamill Jones, in this day with the social upheaval and BLM movement they would have thrown the book at Szabo. This was a senseless death, Jones deserved jail time, minimum one year and a day, hundreds of thousand of dollars in restitution and years of community service.