All 5 Austin men arrested for November 2024 murder were out on bond at time of killing: APD

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin police said all five men arrested for the November 2024 murder of Xavier Jones were out on bond at the time of the killing. 

Community leaders are outraged and are calling for reform.

RELATED: 5 Austin capital murder suspects arrested for November 2024 deadly shooting

The background

The backstory:

Six people are behind bars facing capital murder charges.

Austin police said Jon Willard was the planner and leader of the operation. They said he wanted to rob Xavier Jones for his money and a watch, but Willard was on a court-ordered GPS tracking device, so he brought up the idea to his known gang associates, Judaren Forbes, Lorance Jones, Corey Keazer, and Cameron Perkins. 

Investigators said they started two weeks of planning, which included conducting surveillance on Xavier Jones’ home and at least one failed attempt.

On the night of Nov. 25, 2024, police said Lorance Jones’ girlfriend, Rhianna Farillas, drove at least three of the men to Xavier Jones’ home. 

When they got there, investigators said the men shot through the sliding glass door, hitting Xavier Jones, then one of the men held a gun to Xavier Jones' girlfriend’s head, another pointed a gun at her child, and another took money and a watch off Xavier Jones’ wrist. 

Jones died from his injuries, police said.

Surveillance, cell phones, social media, and even a court-appointed GPS tracking device connected the suspects to the murder.

They are known to Austin police as documented gang members and four previous violent cases show the men working together.

The suspects are being held in the Travis County Jail. Their bonds range from $75,000 to $500,000.

Community leaders call for reform

Local perspective:

"Gangs exist for the purpose of terrorizing communities, of committing crimes with impunity and of operating outside the law. So, you know, I wish this district attorney would take gang activity seriously," Save Austin Now Matt Mackowiak said, "That'd be a great place to start if you just took gang members off the streets. By convicting them when they commit a crime, which is what they do, you would have our crime rate go down considerably because a huge percentage of the crime that's occurring in Austin right now and across Travis County is habitual offenders."

During the incident, all five men were out on bond.

"It's devastating for crime victims to be victimized in the first place, it then compounds that devastation when they learn generally later that the person that committed the crime never should have been free to commit the crime in the first place," Mackowiak said.