Three years and four months after his arrest, a Milledgeville man entered a guilty plea to the shooting death of 20-year-old woman, also from Milledgeville. Both were attending a party in Jones County.
Jeremy Xavier Butts, 30, was sentenced Sept. 12 in Jones County Superior Court to 20 years with the first 15 years to serve in confinement for the lesser- included offense of voluntary manslaughter. The remainder of his sentence is to be served on probation, and he will receive credit for time served from his May 18, 2021, arrest.
His sister, Cierra Simone Butts, 26, was also in court to enter a guilty plea to the charge of hindering in the apprehension of a criminal. She received a 12-month sentence with six months to serve in the Jones County jail.
The victim of the shooting was Jada Franese Simmons. She was pronounced dead May 16, 2021, at the scene, which was a home on Nitrogen Road, where the party was held.
The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Wright Barksdale. Defense Attorney Bruce Harvey represented Jeremy Butts, and Cierra was represented by Kimberly Cornwell.
Senior Superior Court Judge Donald Gillis, the former chief judge of the Dublin Judicial Circuit, heard the case. It was necessary to bring in an out of circuit judge due to the recusal of all five Circuit Judges.
The Butts siblings are the son and daughter of Kendrick Butts, who is the county commissioner for District 2 in Baldwin County.
Gillis started the proceeding with the case against Jeremy Butts.
Barksdale stated the defendant was indicted Aug. 2, 2021, for the charges of felony murder and seven counts of aggravated assault. He said Butts would be entering a guilty plea to the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter as the result of plea negotiations.
Counts 2-8 were dismissed as part of the negotiations.
“The range of the sentence for the charge of voluntary manslaughter is 1-20 years. On May 16, 2021, Jeremy Butts caused the death of Jada Simmons by shooting her with a deadly weapon,” Barksdale said.
Gillis methodically went over the terms of the plea with the defendant, including the terms of entering a guilty plea under the first offender act. When he was satisfied the defendant understood, the judge said he would accept the plea, and it was signed by the defendant.
The district attorney informed the judge at the beginning of the proceeding that the victim’s mother would like to give a victim’s impact statement.
After accepting the plea, Gillis invited the mother to speak.
“We are here to listen,” he said.
The mother talked in general first about the nightmare of losing a child and trying to wrap her mind around what happened.
“Jada is gone,” she said. “I had to explain to my granddaughter that her mother did not leave her willingly.”
She said her daughter was somebody that had her whole life ahead of her.
“It was not his right to take that away from her.”
The mother spoke for several minutes. She concluded by talking about the night of the shooting and her disbelief that her child was deceased.
“I’m still just holding on,” she said.
Gillis pronounced Jeremy Butts sentence at the conclusion of the mother’s statement, and he was removed from the courtroom.
Sister sentenced
Cierra Butts and her attorney moved to the front of the courtroom. Barksdale said she was indicted Aug. 2, 2021, for hindering the apprehension of a criminal.
The district attorney said when it was discovered Jeremy Butts flew to Texas after the shooting, bank and airline records were obtained.
“Cierra purchased Jeremy’s airline ticket at 4:30 a.m. that morning. They were both at the party, and she drove him to the airport,” he said.
Barksdale said the defendant is guilty of misdemeanor obstruction. The recommendation of the negotiated plea was 12 months with six months to serve.
Cornwall said the defense agreed with the sentence but asked that Cierra be allowed to turn herself in to the jail Oct. 1.
Gillis asked Barksdale if he objected to the Oct. 1 report.
“I’ll leave that decision to the court,” he responded.
The judge then pronounced the sentence and ordered Cierra to report to the Jones County jail no later than noon, Oct. 1.
Facts of the case
The defense stipulated to the facts of the case in the Sept. 12 proceeding, so those facts were not read in court. Those facts were discussed in court in previous actions including a June 10, 2021, preliminary hearing followed by a bond hearing, and a June 9, 2023, proceeding to hear motions and reconsider bond.
Jones County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Crystal Murphy was the lead investigator in the case. She was on call May 16, 2021, the night of the shooting. Murphy said she was met at the scene by two other investigators.
The information she received was that one person had been shot. She said when she arrived, the coroner had already been called by deputies to the scene. The investigator spoke to the owner of the Nitrogen Road home and found out there had been a large party attended by 150-250 people. Most at the party were from Milledgeville.
Murphy said the body of the victim was located on the threshold of a door leading outside. Holes were found in the door frame, ceiling and door. Three projectiles were recovered from the room and a fourth from the victim.
Coroner Matt Jarret confirmed the cause of Simmons’ death was a gunshot wound to the head.
Murphy said witnesses at the scene pointed to Butts as the shooter.
JCSO Investigator Kenny Gleaton said Butts had been stationed at Ft. Bliss in El Paso, Tx. and was discharged earlier that year. He was taken into custody in El Paso May 18, after being located by US Marshalls.
Gleaton and Murphy flew to El Paso to interview Butts. The suspect was later picked up by JCSO Lt. Ed Bailey and Sgt. Travis Walker and brought back to Jones County.
Following the indictment, the case was placed on the trial calendar but was derailed by COVID. Harvey attempted to use the delay to receive a bond for his client in the bond hearing in June of 2023.
That argument was derailed by the fact that the state had announced it was ready for trial in 2023 and it was Harvey’s commitments to other trials that were delaying the case.
