The university-Bound Mother Who Killed Her Child Deserves Forgiveness

MICHELLE JONES IS NOT LIKE THE other Ph.D. candidates rolling up to New York University this year.

- Belinda Luscombe

First, she got out of prison only two days before school started. Second, folks at Harvard are still arguing over whether they should have admitted her. And third, when she was a teenager, she killed her 4-year-old son.

Jones’ story, which was recently uncovered by the Marshall Project and the New York Times, is an incredible one. She got pregnant at 14, and was, a prosecutor said, beaten by her mother. Her child Brandon was born with a disability. In 1992, when he was 4, she left him home alone and went to an out-of-town theater conference. He was never seen again.

A friend later testified that Jones told her she beat Brandon and found him dead on her return. And she admitted to others that she buried him in the woods, but his body was never found. Jones was convicted of murder and given a 50-year sentence.