Daniel Paul Jones

On December 5, 2012, 19-year-old Daniel Paul Jones from Longview, Texas, along with two other individuals, murdered Ronnie Joe Gamage Jr.

On December 5, 2012, 19-year-old Daniel Paul Jones from Longview, Texas, along with two other individuals, murdered Ronnie Joe Gamage Jr.

The act was gruesome. Daniel and the others lured the mentally disabled Gammage into the woods, beat him, cut his throat, and then set his dead body on fire. The victim’s body was abandoned in a pasture and was not found until December 19, two weeks later.

Daniel was the adopted son of Richard Jones, the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Longview. According to news reports, Daniel had been “a straight-A student at Christian Heritage School” and had “no disciplinary problems.” He was “a key member of the Christian Heritage School soccer and basketball teams.” After high school, he was briefly enrolled at Kilgore College.

Daniel had been homeschooled until 6th grade, when he was placed in Christian Heritage School because his adopted mother had grown tired of homeschooling him due to both lack of energy and problems with Daniel. Daniel’s brother (also adopted), on the other hand, was homeschooled straight through high school graduation. The Jones family was active in their local homeschool group.

After pleading guilty, Daniel was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole