Man sentenced to 41 years in prison for murder of 18-year-old girl

PHOENIX - Jamal Jones was found guilty of second-degree murder and concealing the dead body of 18-year-old Luezeia Mathis.

He was sentenced to 41 years in prison on Friday.

Her family reported her missing on August 20, 2019 and police say they found blood and cleaning products inside her apartment.

Surveillance video showed Jones driving her car and buying a shovel and chlorine at the time of her disappearance.

Luezeia's aunt told the court her family still grieves her death.

"He was telling me, and he just started crying at the table and that just tore me apart because my son is hurting to this day," she said at the hearing.

At sentencing, prosecutors showed a screenshot of a text that Jones sent to Mathis after a previous assault where he threatened to kill her.

"Where do we draw the line? When does the defendant stop getting chances to rehabilitate? When has he demonstrated enough to everyone in the system he is not amenable to it, he is not going to do to better," prosecutors said at sentencing. 

The prosecution argued for a sentence long enough that he dies in prison, citing his extensive criminal history and gang affiliation.

Mathis' grandmother said Jones never showed any remorse.

Jones spoke at the sentencing and said most of his crimes were from shoplifting and burglary, since he was raised poor. 

He denies killing Mathis saying he was never a violent person and that he was not allowed to present evidence he wanted at his trial.