Just 15 years apart in age, David Jones and his father Thomas Jones were more like brothers. They looked alike, both with bald heads and beards, and they shared a love of cars and Adam Sandler movies.
When David started his career in long-haul trucking, Thomas followed suit a year later, and they spoke often to keep each other company while on the road.
After working for his trucking company for five years, David decided to purchase a house in the city’s Juniata section so he had a comfortable place to rest after driving for months on end. Thomas was house-hunting at the same time, and they both settled on their respective homes on the same day in October 2016.
“He was so excited,” Thomas said. “He was so happy, telling me all the stuff he wanted to do with the house.”
David was the oldest of 11 siblings between both of his parents, and he doted on his brothers and sisters. He hoped to have children of his own and raise them in the house.
Thomas’ wife, Gloria Beckwith-Jones, considered her stepson David to be one of her best friends. He often talked about his plans for the future.
“He wanted a family,” she said. “I told him, ‘You’ll get that. You’re starting off good. You have a house, you have a good job and everything is going to come into place.’ But then it got taken away.”
In June 2017, David came home after being on the road for a few months. He had an old dirt bike that he never rode anymore and it was taking up space, so he put up an ad on Craigslist.
On the evening of June 8 of that year, David jumped on the dirt bike and started to make the mile-long ride to where he was to meet a potential buyer. It’s illegal to drive a dirt bike on city streets, and David caught the eye of a Philadelphia police officer around Whitaker Avenue in Juniata.
Within minutes, David was shot in the back. He was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Just as the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, David’s shooting sparked protests, and activists disrupted City Council meetings, press conferences and other events, calling for the officer, Ryan Pownall, to be held accountable.
Pownall was fired, then later charged with third-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty, and the case is currently pending. A call and email to his attorney seeking comment were not returned.
“I don’t think David ever pictured his life ending that way,” Gloria said. “Especially after being out on the road driving for days and days and days, it could have happened any kind of way. He was just on his way to sell a dirt bike.”
David was born July 26, 1986 to Doretha Crosby and Thomas. His son was “always a laughy jokey jokey person,” Thomas said.
After graduating from Frankford High School, he attended Lincoln Tech for automotive mechanics. He worked at Pep Boys for a bit before going to truck driving school in New Jersey.
His job took him all over the country. If Thomas was on the road at the same time, they’d spend hours talking.
“That was my trucking partner,” Thomas said. “We’d call and be like, ‘What state are you in?’ He liked the serenity of driving and being on his own, being peaceful and independent.”
Gloria remembers how David would call and send photos from places like Miami, Las Vegas, Washington State, California and New Mexico and how he’d marvel at the changes in the landscape.
When David would come home from the road, he would head straight to Thomas and Gloria’s house, or he’d go to see his grandmother in Germantown, before going home to sleep in his own bed.
Family meant everything to him, and he wanted to see his brothers and sisters succeed. He would help them with homework and play video games with him, and they looked up to him.
“David was a loving person. He was a caring brother, stepson, son and grandson,” Gloria said. “He would give his all to help and he would do anything for his family and friends.”
After David’s murder, Thomas, Gloria and their kids moved to Georgia, where they had lived a few years earlier, because it didn’t feel safe to raise their younger kids in the city.
As the years go by, David’s family not only feels his absence at celebrations like birthdays, proms and graduations, they feel it on a daily basis. His 7-year-old sister sometimes calls David’s phone.
“It’s still so hard,” Gloria said. “We still can’t believe it happened.”
