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A teenager from Florida stands accused of murdering and dismembering a 28-year-old man, allegedly targeting him because he was a registered sex offender.
Lucas Sander Jones is facing several charges, including second-degree murder, following the discovery of Colie Lee Daniel’s dismembered body on March 28. The remains were found inside two suitcases that had attracted vultures, according to a police affidavit obtained by Oxygen.
In addition to the gruesome discovery, Palm Bay Police found an Amazon package addressed to Jones’ home in Indialantic at the scene.
Daniel, who was a registered sex offender in Florida, was reportedly seen on neighborhood surveillance arriving at Jones’ residence in his white Hyundai Elantra on March 20, eight days prior to the discovery, as detailed in an amended affidavit filed on April 1.
Later that same day, Daniel’s parents showed up at the house in search of him. However, Jones allegedly refused to allow them—or Indialantic Police officers—entry to check on Daniel’s wellbeing, according to the police affidavit.
Later that day, Daniel’s parents arrived at the home looking for him, but Jones allegedly refused to let his parents—or Indialantic Police officers—inside to check on his welfare, police wrote in the affidavit.
When police returned the next day, they searched the home but found no sign of Daniel.
Jones’ girlfriend Mishai Burrows allegedly told police, according to the affidavit, that she arrived at his home on March 20 and found the 19-year-old “in the process of cleaning up” a crime scene. Burrows allegedly reported seeing black spray paint on the hallway wall, evidence of blood on the floor and saw “red blood stains” on Jones’ jeans.
“I killed somebody and cut him up,” Jones allegedly told her, according to the affidavit, before identifying the victim as “Colie Lee.”
She told police that Jones allegedly confessed to killing Daniel with a baseball bat and then cutting up his body “with a cleaver, a saw and a knife” and placing the dismembered remains into the suitcases inside two large Rubbermaid totes, per the affidavit.
Lucas Jones’ Girlfriend Provides Revised Statement to Police
Although Burrows initially reported that she’d seen Daniel alive at the property, she said in revised statement to police, per the affidavit, that he was already dead and dismembered inside the garage by the time she arrived. (Burrows later told police she had been coached by Jones for her initial statement to law enforcement).
She added that in the days after the killing, Jones allegedly told her that “he killed Daniel because he was a sex offender” and “he wanted to kill him,” police said.
Police added that Burrows was “confused about why Jones did not just call the police [if] it was an act of self-defense,” per the affidavit.
The medical examiner later determined that Daniel suffered “multiple blunt force injuries to his head and extremities” before his death.
Although Burrows didn’t know how the two had met, she allegedly told detectives that Jones had printed out a list of registered sex offenders in the area.
“Daniel did reside nearby and was likely on this list of registered sex offenders Jones printed,” police said in the amended affidavit. “Burrows further advised from the week following the homicide, Jones coached her and told her what to tell law enforcement, which is why she provided the previous statement. She described how he would [conduct] research on body language and how to conceal deception. He would remind her frequently how she needed to act, saying things such as how she needed to go to work, conduct her daily routines and act as though everything was normal.”
Lucas Jones is Arrested After Investigators Find Digital Evidence
Jones also allegedly went to great lengths to clean up the crime scene, according to the affidavit, by painting the walls and baseboards, steam cleaning blood from grouted tile and pouring Drano down the drains to clean up any potential biological matter evidence. He was accused of keeping a “microscope slide,” according to the affidavit, with Daniel’s DNA material.
Not long after Indialantic Police left the property on March 21, Jones and Burrows allegedly loaded her car with the totes and drove to an area known as the compound, where she told police that he dumped the remains, according to the affidavit.
Palm Bay Police added in an April 2 statement that “Flock Safety cameras confirmed the vehicle in the area that day.”
Jones was arrested and taken into custody April 1 “without incident,” police said.
“This investigation serves as a reminder of the strong working relationships that law enforcement agencies within Brevard County have,” Palm Bay Police Deputy Chief Jeff Spears said. “Although crimes sometimes cross jurisdictional boundaries, we will always work as a team to ensure that proper and thorough investigations are completed.”
In addition the charges of second-degree murder, Jones is also facing charges of tampering with evidence, abuse of a dead human body, and improper disposal of human remains, police said.
Oxygen reached out to Jones’ attorney R. Scott Robinson, but did not receive an immediate reply.