Man arrested in November murder
Published 10:30 pm Tuesday, March 29, 2011
A Texas man whom police arrested with the help of a Facebook page has been charged with the November murder of a Suffolk woman.
Larry Nicholas O’Neal was served with indictments for first-degree murder and grand larceny. He has been held in Western Tidewater Regional Jail since late November, when he turned himself in to Roanoke police.
Katina Jones, a 31-year-old single mother, was found dead in her apartment on Nov. 7. O’Neal had contacted Jones by Facebook a few days before her murder, seeking a ride home from a Greyhound bus station in Norfolk. Jones responded to ask what time he was arriving.
She was found dead in her apartment in the 4300 block of Crowdy Boulevard off Bridge Road on Nov. 7, when her daughter’s father came to her apartment because he had not been able to get in touch with her. The 8-year-old daughter was with her grandparents that day.
The case marked the first time Suffolk Police had dedicated an entire Facebook page to a single crime. Police shared the news of the murder charges on the “Catch Katina’s Killer” Facebook page on Tuesday.
“In this particular case, detectives learned that the victim and the suspect previously knew each other and had recently reconnected on Facebook, so they were both Facebook users,” city spokeswoman Debbie George said at the time. “We felt we could use this social media tool to get the information out nationwide.”
Jones had worked in the deli and bakery departments at the Harris Teeter on Bridge Road since May 2009.
The “Catch Katina’s Killer” Facebook page had 1,364 “likes” as of Tuesday evening. It featured a photo of Jones, as well as multiple photos of O’Neal.
O’Neal was in Western Tidewater Regional Jail on charges of credit card theft and credit card fraud, allegedly for using Jones’ card after her death. He still is being held there with no bond.