Transient Sentenced To Life For Murder In Menlo Park

MENLO PARK, CA -- A 45-year-old transient has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for a fatal drive-by shooting in Menlo Park in 2011, San Mateo County prosecutors said today. Jermaine Jones was convicted in March of the murder of 19-year-old Stockton resident Carl Purvis Jr. in the area of Newbridge Street and Almanor Avenue on the evening of Aug. 18, 2011.

Jones pulled up alongside Purvis' car and fired several shots into it. Purvis was hit in the abdomen and was able to drive a few blocks away but pulled to the side of the road and bled to death, prosecutors said.

Jones was eventually arrested in Stockton in October 2014 with the murder weapon in his car. The murder conviction came after a 23-day trial and four days of jury deliberations. At his sentencing hearing Friday, several of the victim's family members spoke, as did Jones, who again denied responsibility for the murder, prosecutors said.

Along with the prison sentence, Jones was ordered to pay more than $9,000 to the victim's father plus other restitution yet to be determined.Jones' defense attorney Eric Hove was not immediately available to comment on the sentencing.

--Bay City News/Image via Shutterstock