SAVAGE, Minnesota – Tino Andre Jones Jr., 34, of Woodbury, was sentenced to 135 months in prison on Dec. 22 after pleading guilty earlier this year to third-degree murder in the overdose death of a Savage man. Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar hailed the resolution as a measure of justice for the victim and a means of holding a drug dealer accountable for the consequences of his actions.
Murder convictions in drug overdose cases are notoriously difficult to secure, but the work of the Savage Police Department, the Dakota County Drug Task Force, and the county attorney’s office proved instrumental in bringing Jones to justice. Hocevar praised their efforts in tracing the drugs involved in the overdose back to Jones as the supplier, noting that it involved meticulous investigative work including surveillance, phone records, search warrants, data interpretation, and toxicology analysis.
The criminal complaint detailed the events leading up to the victim’s death on Aug. 5, 2020. The victim’s mother discovered her son’s body in the home, leading authorities to uncover a series of text messages between the victim and Jones discussing the purchase and delivery of pills. Additionally, surveillance data and phone records linked Jones to the victim’s phone, and a subsequent search warrant at Jones’ home yielded incriminating evidence, including crushed pills and fentanyl.
The victim’s cause of death was determined to be a mixed toxicity from a drug overdose with ethanol, fentanyl, and oxycodone. The successful prosecution of Jones serves as a stark warning to drug dealers that law enforcement will aggressively pursue those responsible for supplying lethal substances. This case stands as a reminder of the severe consequences that await those who engage in drug dealing and the devastation it can bring to families and communities.