Prosecutors said Jermis Jones waited for Perish Tyus and attacked while their 4-year-old son sat inside her vehicle.

BROWNSVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee man convicted of killing the mother of his child as she arrived for a family drop-off has been sentenced to life in prison plus 34 years, closing the trial-court phase of a case that began with a fatal shooting in December 2022.

Haywood County Circuit Judge Clayburn Peeples imposed the additional 34-year term on Jermis Jones, 44, on June 29, according to a statement released by the Office of the District Attorney General for Tennessee’s 28th Judicial District. The term will run consecutively to the life sentence required by Jones’ first-degree murder conviction in the death of Perish Tyus. Prosecutors said they requested the maximum punishment available for the remaining convictions. No publicly available source reviewed for this report identified a pending execution date for the sentence, a post-trial ruling or the filing of an appeal.

The sentence followed a two-day jury trial that ended Nov. 4, 2025. Jurors found Jones guilty on every charge submitted to them, the district attorney’s office said. Those convictions included first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, tampering with evidence and retaliation for past action. Public statements about the case did not explain how each nonmurder count corresponded to the people, conduct or evidence involved in the shooting.

The first-degree murder verdict established that jurors accepted the prosecution’s claim that Tyus’ killing was intentional and premeditated. Tennessee law defines premeditation as an intent to kill formed before the act after reflection and judgment. The law does not require prosecutors to prove that the plan existed for a particular amount of time. A first-degree murder conviction may carry death, life without parole or life imprisonment, depending on the case and the sentence sought. Prosecutors described the life term imposed on Jones as mandatory under the circumstances of his case, while the other convictions were addressed separately at the June sentencing hearing.

Authorities said the killing occurred Dec. 18, 2022, when Tyus drove to the home of the child’s paternal grandmother. She was bringing the 4-year-old son she shared with Jones to the residence, according to the district attorney’s account. Tyus remained in the driver’s seat. Her cousin, identified by prosecutors as Marques Owens, was sitting in the front passenger seat, and the child was secured in a car seat in the rear passenger area. Officials have not released Tyus’ age, the precise time of the shooting or the address where it happened.

Jones had been waiting at the property, prosecutors said. When Tyus arrived, he approached her vehicle and fired multiple times, striking her four times and killing her. The district attorney’s office characterized the attack as an act committed after Jones had lain in wait. That description was central to the prosecution’s account of premeditation, though a detailed trial transcript, the defense’s response and the jury instructions were not available in the public materials reviewed for this report.

The shooting also placed two other people in immediate danger, according to the physical evidence described by prosecutors. A separate bullet hole was found on the passenger side of the vehicle near where Owens had been sitting. Another bullet was discovered lodged in the door beside the child’s car seat. Authorities did not report that either Owens or the boy suffered a physical injury. The presence of the cousin and child, along with the location of the bullet strikes, formed an important part of the public account of why Jones faced several offenses in addition to murder.

After the shooting, Jones left the immediate area and disposed of the gun, the district attorney’s office said. Investigators later found him hiding inside a storage closet in a carport and took him into custody. Prosecutors said Jones threatened officers who responded to arrest him. Their public statement did not provide the wording of the alleged threats, identify the officers involved or say how investigators located the hiding place. It also did not state whether the firearm was recovered or describe any forensic testing presented at trial.

Jones’ prior record also affected the charges against him. The district attorney’s office said he had previously been convicted of three drug felonies. Those convictions meant he was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm, forming the basis for the felon-in-possession count. The public sentencing announcement did not identify the earlier cases, the dates of those convictions or the sentences Jones received. They were disclosed to explain his legal status when he possessed the gun used in the 2022 attack, not as proof of the murder itself.

District Attorney General Frederick H. Agee called Tyus’ killing a senseless act of violence by a former domestic partner. He said his office had asked Peeples to impose the maximum additional sentence and thanked the court for imposing punishment that would keep Jones incarcerated. Agee also said the prosecution reflected his office’s broader focus on violent crime in Crockett, Gibson and Haywood counties. His statement asserted that violent crime had declined during his administration, although it did not include data or identify the period and measurements used for that conclusion.

The case took more than two years and 10 months to reach a jury verdict and nearly eight more months to reach the sentencing hearing. The publicly available reports do not explain the reasons for that schedule. Criminal cases can involve pretrial motions, evidence review, attorney scheduling and other proceedings, but no specific cause for the timing in Jones’ case was stated. Records reviewed for this article also did not disclose whether Jones testified, what defense theory was presented, how long jurors deliberated or whether members of Tyus’ family addressed the court at sentencing.

Tyus’ funeral arrangements were held in late December 2022, according to a notice published by Currie’s Funeral Home. A public viewing was scheduled for Dec. 30, followed by a graveside service in Brownsville on Dec. 31. The notice did not contain a full obituary or biographical account. Because the available family notice offered few personal details, claims about Tyus’ work, interests or wider family life could not be independently confirmed and have not been added to this report.

Jones retains the right to seek appellate review of his convictions and sentence under Tennessee law. State court rules generally call for a notice of appeal to be filed within 30 days after entry of the judgment being challenged, although appellate courts may waive timely filing in criminal cases when justice requires. Agee said Jones would remain imprisoned for life unless he obtained relief from an appeals court. As of July 27, the sources reviewed for this article did not establish whether Jones had filed such a challenge or identify the issues he might raise.

Author note: Last updated July 27, 2026.