Murder victim Ciera Jones: Shot and killed over rap lyrics.
A 21-year-old member of the Exit 8 gang has admitted to murdering 22-year-old Ciera “CeeCee” Jones and conspiring to murder 18-year-old Tashawn Brown three years ago — and now faces up to life in prison, with a recommended sentence of up to 30 years.
U.S. Attorney Vanessa Avery announced the terms of that guilty plea by Tyjon “TJ” Preston in a Thursday afternoon email press release.
According to the release and related federal court documents, Preston was a member of a New Haven gang that trafficked fentanyl, heroin, crack, marijuana, oxycodone, and Percocet pills; used and sold firearms; and committed acts of violence, including murder and attempted murder, to protect the gang’s business and retaliate against rivals and critics.
The plea agreement that Preston signed on Wednesday states that he “conspired to murder” Tashawn Brown, who was shot and killed in May 2021; and that he and a fellow gang member murdered Ciera Jones in July of that same year. (The plea deal itself does not state the victims’ names in full, but rather refers to them by their initials.)
Thursday’s press release states that Preston and another gang member murdered Jones — a shooting death that took place in broad daylight in the Hill, and traumatized the neighborhood, her family, and local violence prevention workers who knew Jones — “after she made a rap song containing derogatory comments about Exit 8.”
The plea deal reads in part: “[T]he violent acts committed by the defendant, and those he agreed to have happen and/or aided and abetted, were done to retaliate on behalf of the Exit 8 enterprise against rival gang members and to raise and maintain the reputation of the Exit 8 enterprise and the defendant’s status within the Exit 8 enterprise. The defendant knew that acts of violence and retaliation were expected of members and associates of the Exit 8 enterprise.”
The email press release also states that, since June 2018, members of the Exit 8 gang “have committed at least three murders and 16 attempted murders.”
Thursday’s announcement of Preston’s guilty plea comes a week after another member of the Exit 8 gang, 21-year-old Antawn “Bandz” Hill, also pleaded guilty to conspiring to kill Brown in May 2021 and to shooting and killing Jones in July 2021, among other violent offenses. It also follows an announcement on Tuesday that still another Exit 8 gang member, 25-year-old Samuel “Blamm” Douglas, admitted to shooting and trying to kill a member of a rival gang in the area of Fountain Street, Davis Street, and Lakeview Terrace in June 2018.
Preston’s guilty plea to the federal racketeering offense means that he could face up to life in prison. Under the terms of the plea agreement, the federal government is recommending that he be sentenced instead to between 264 months and 360 months in prison.
A date has not yet been set for Preston’s sentencing in this case. He has been detained since September 2021.
This prosecution is part of the federal Justice Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), Project Longevity and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) programs.