Rafael Jones, 23, has been charged in the murder of Officer Moses Walker, Jr. Police say he was the gunman that shot and killed Officer Walker one week ago, on August 18.
The second suspect in the case, 19-year-old Chancier McFarland remains on the loose.
Jones served time in state prison on a 2007 gun charge. He was picked up again in February for a robbery, but those charges were later withdrawn when the witnesses in the case failed to show up in court on three separate dates, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Jones served more time behind bars for violating his parole before being released on August 8, just ten days before he allegedly killed Officer Walker.
Upon his release, Jones was ordered to serve six months of house arrest with electronic monitoring by Judge Susan Schulman.
NBC10 received new information from the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole as to why Jones was not wearing an electronic monitoring device.
In a statement released Saturday, Chairman Michael Potteiger said Jones did not have a telephone land line and was given two weeks to have one installed. The land line is necessary for electronic monitoring.
Also in the statement, he made it clear that the procedures of the Board don't require a parole agent to escort an offender from prison to a parole office to get fitted for an electronic monitoring device. Jones reported to the parole office on August 10, as he was ordered.
The state Parole board says as soon as they learned Jones was wanted in the case, they assisted Philadelphia Police and the U.S. Marshals to help find him. They also said they will conduct a full review of all policies related to special probation cases and electronic monitoring.
Here is the full statement released Saturday:
On behalf of the Board, I would like to offer my sympathies to the family of Philadelphia Police Officer Moses Walker, Jr. We are all deeply saddened by this senseless tragedy. The Board has completed a preliminary review of the case of Rafael Jones, who has been charged with the murder of Officer Walker. Mr. Jones served a two to four year state sentence for carrying a firearm without a license. His minimum sentence date expired on October 16, 2009. His maximum sentence date was October 16, 2011. A three year probationary sentence was imposed consecutive to his state prison sentence. In July of 2009, the Board denied Mr. Jones parole and he remained incarcerated after his minimum sentence expired. In March of 2011, the Board decided that Jones would serve his maximum sentence. On October 16, 2011, at the end of his state sentence, Jones was released and his consecutive probation sentence began. As a "special probation" case, Mr. Jones was under the supervision of the Board while the sentencing judge retained legal jurisdiction over the offender and made all decisions regarding parole violations, unlike most state parolees where the Board makes those decisions. On July 25, 2012, Judge Schulman ordered Mr. Jones continued on probation with an additional condition of probation that he be placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring for six months. The procedures of the Board do not require a parole agent to escort an offender from prison to a parole office in order to have a radio frequency electronic monitoring device placed on the offender. Mr. Jones reported to the parole office as directed when he was released. Mr. Jones did not have a telephonic land line at his approved residence and he was given two weeks to have one installed so that the electronic monitoring aspect of his sentence could be imposed. When the Board learned that Mr. Jones was a person of interest in this crime, our Fugitive Apprehension and Search Team (FAST) Unit assisted the U.S. Marshals Service and the Philadelphia Police Department with the apprehension of Mr. Jones. The Board will conduct a full review all policies related to special probation cases and electronic monitoring.
Michael C. Potteiger
Chairman Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole
