A former Tri-Cities activist will soon face trial on charges related to a series of rapes that spanned two years and at least 10 victims. He is accused of luring, attacking and raping sex workers he thought would be too afraid to report the crimes.
Prosecutors recently added more charges against Brandon Lamon Jones, 28, who was arrested nearly two years ago. He is now facing a total of 11 counts of first-degree rape, one count of attempted first-degree rape, seven counts of first-degree robbery and three counts of attempted first-degree robbery.
He's also accused of using a gun to commit the crimes, which could potentially add decades to his sentence.
While the former Tri-Cities activist allegedly told police he sought the services of sex workers, he has denied attacking the women. He has pleaded innocent to the charges and a three-week trial is currently scheduled to begin March 4.
Jones is accused of carrying out a series of attacks between late 2020 and his arrest in June 2022. Each of the women shared a similar story.
He allegedly contacted the sex workers using a European-based escort website from 2020 to 2022.
Benton County Deputy Prosecutor Anita Petra said during a recent court hearing that Jones picked women who would be the least likely to report his crimes.
Shortly after the women arrived, he pulled out a gun, and raped them. In most cases, he would demand cash from the women before leaving.
Jones was initially identified after police tied his cellphone number to an open Richland investigation, according to court documents. Then he was linked to an attack in Kennewick, said officials.
After Tri-City Herald reports about him at the time, new victims stepped forward and he was linked to previous crimes, said investigators.
Jones was one of the people behind Unbound Tri-Cities, one of the three Black Lives Matter organizations that were active in the Tri-Cities following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Rapes and robberies
While Kennewick and Richland police had previous reports of rapes of sex workers, the break in the case came in 2022.
In Kennewick, a woman came forward to say she was attacked in a parking lot on the 7100 block of West Clearwater Avenue.
She said she was contacted by Jones through a cellphone after finding her on the escort website. When she arrived, he asked her to get into his car. After she did, he pointed the gun at her head.
After he allegedly raped her, Jones threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
She went to police, and they tied the phone number used to Jones, as well as the license place.
The day before the Kennewick attack, Richland police had allegedly connected one of Jones' cellphone numbers to an attack that happened in February 2022, said court documents.
In that case, they arranged to meet at Motel 6, and when they were inside he took out a gun and demanded money. She allegedly said she didn't have any, then he raped her at gunpoint.
As police continued to investigate, they started to find more cases. The earliest ones date back to 2020. There are three cases in 2020, two in 2021 and then seven in 2022.
In the initial ones, he would "leave to get money" and then come back with a gun. Then he began bringing the gun to the meeting, but walking into the bathroom before coming out with the gun to make the threats. Then in 2022, he just started with the gun, said the documents.
He would demand money, and when they didn't have it, he would search and find it.
Along with cellphone numbers, police allegedly linked him to the crimes through the vehicle he drove and a handgun found during a search of his home.
He also monitored internet message boards for signs of the women warning about him. One of his victims posted to a forum about her experience, and he allegedly replied and discouraged her from going to police.
