New Mexico District Attorney Lacks Key Evidence in Jon Jones Case

Prosecutors plan on taking the Jon Jones case to a grand jury.

The former UFC light heavyweight champion was arrested in April on a felony charge for an alleged hit-and-run incident in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

MMAFighting’s Marc Raimondi reported that Jones, after running a red light, crashed his rental vehicle into a car driven by Vanessa Sonnenberg, a 25-year-old pregnant woman. Sonnenberg sustained a fractured arm in the crash.

Jones reportedly ran to his vehicle to grab a handful of cash before fleeing from the scene on foot, according to Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie. Authorities found marijuana inside of a marijuana pipe in the vehicle. A day later, Jones turned himself in after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He made bail a few hours later.

The district attorney presiding over Jones’ case was given 60 days to decide whether to indict, but the set deadline for that decision expired on Monday.

According to the public information officer for the Bernalillo County District Attorney, per Marrocco, the prosecutor is missing two pieces of key evidence needed before the case can be brought in front of a grand jury: dispatch reports from the Albuquerque Police Department and Sonnenberg’s medical records.

Kayla Anderson, the public information officer, claimed that without the two pieces of evidence, the case could be dismissed altogether. Despite the expiration of the 60-day deadline, prosecutors still have room to press charges against Jones.

“Proceeding on a case without complete discovery could result in the likely dismissal of the case altogether,” said Anderson. “We have requested both pieces of outstanding evidence and anticipate moving forward when we have a completed case investigation.”

After being arrested, Jones was stripped of the UFC title and suspended indefinitely. Mike Winkeljohn, Jones’ coach, recently told Submission Radio (h/t David St. Martin of MMAFighting) that Jones might never fight again. He is currently focused on helping those around him train and get better.  

Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He also is the MMA writer for FanRag Sports and co-founder of The MMA Bros.