6 Years After Her Baby Was Murdered, Heartbroken Mother Shares Memories of Night She Last Saw Him

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Monday marked six years since Vanessa Vascez-Corleone faced the worst nightmare a mother can ever endure, when her baby boy was murdered by her then-boyfriend.

And now, six years later, Vascez-Corleone — her name at the time of the murder was Vanessa Jones — opened up for the first time about the darkest night of her life, and about her memories of the sweet baby boy she's yearned for every day since.

In 2012, 22-year-old Pedro Jones, of Southampton, was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. The Suffolk County District Attorney's office said that Jones struck 17-month-old Roy Jones III so hard in the chest that the toddler went into cardiac arrest.

According to authorities, Jones said he punched the child to get him to calm down. Pedro Jones was not related to Roy Jones III, who was his then-girlfriend's son.

Jones was living with his then-girlfriend on the reservation in Southampton, but Jones is not a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation.

According to court documents, Jones told state troopers at the time of his arrest, "I was trying to make him act like a boy instead of a little girl" and admitted to hitting Roy Jones III in the past, too.

While the investigation was still ongoing, Jones was initially charged with first-degree manslaughter. He was indicted by a grand jury on charges of murder and endangering the welfare of a child days later. The sentence of 16 years to life in prison that was handed down was part of a plea deal.

A mother remembers

Six years later, the memories for Vascez-Corleone are only a heartbeat away.

On her son's tombstone, the words to the song "I'm Already There," by Lonestar, are engraved. "I used to be at work and think of him and this song used to come on," she said.

Remembering that dark night, Vascez-Corleone said she was a single mother, working seven days a week, riding her bike from the reservation all the way to Water Mill, to and from her office.

"The last day of my son's life I was at work most of the day. From about 9 a.m. until 5 at night," she said. "Riding my bike, I had to leave earlier and get home later. I just remember my son was asleep when I left. When I had gotten home he was awake, happy and in his pajamas. I played with him and kissed him and fed him some of the food I had brought home from work."

Her refrigerator at the time was broken, so she had to go to the store regularly, Vascez-Corleone said. She said she'd thought about taking her son to the store with her, but the last time she'd done so, he'd gotten mosquito bites — and besides, it was getting late.

"I decided to go and leave him with my boyfriend at the time, Pedro Jones. He wasn't his father, but we had the same last names," she said. "A lot of people get the story mixed up. They thought he was his babysitter, and that wasn't the case."

Jones' sister also stayed with them and would babysit. The two young women were very close, Vascez-Corleone said.

"At that time she and I decided to walk to the store. We would only be gone, at max, for an hour," she said.

Vascez-Corleone said she'd learned the night before that her boyfriend had been cheating. "I had told him that our relationship wasn't going to work. I didn't want to be mean and kick him out, so I said that he and his sister could stay for two more weeks, since their family was about to move into a new house around that time," she said.

The young women got ready to leave for the store, she said. "The only thing Pedro said to me before I left is that he had something he wanted to talk to me about. I never found out what that was."

On her way to the store, Jones called her, she said, and told her Roy was throwing up.

Vascez-Corleone said she told him she'd bring the toddler to the ER when she got back.

"He called me 10 minutes later and said he wasn't breathing. I screamed at him to call 911 and to have someone pick us up along side of the road. After that, I was on the road waiting for anybody to pass me. Finally a relative who had passed the ambulance picked me up and had Pedro in the car. The ambulance had taken the baby," she said.

She was told that EMTs had been able to revive her son, she said. When she got to the hospital, she saw her baby lying on an examining table in his diaper.

"I lost my mind," she said. "I said, 'What is going on?'"

She was moved to another room, where personnel asked a series of questions, Vascez-Corleone said; she and Jones were separated, she said.

A doctor began to explain that procedures and medication hadn't worked, she said. "I just cut her off," Vascez-Corleone said. "I said, 'I know you're not trying to tell me my son is dead.' When she didn't respond, I just lost my mind."

Engulfed in agonizing despair, Vascez-Corleone said she wasn't able to look at her baby until his funeral.

"Even when they told me to look at him once he was dressed I had to have my dad do it because I couldn't see him that way," she said. "When I did finally look at him nothing was the same. His eyes looked glued shut."

His soft cheeks did not look real, she said, because skin samples had been taken for evidence. "The only thing that was normal was his lips, hands and little bold legs," she said.

6 Years Later, Keeping Memories Alive

Living on without her son has been a dark road marked by tears.

"I try to keep his memory alive the best I can," Vascez-Corleone said. "I just do whatever I can. Every year since he passed I've given him a birthday party. I donate the money people give me to another child that is in need."

One year, Vascez-Corleone donated the funds to a little girl, Dahlia, who had FACES Syndrome. And the next was for a little girl that had Type 1 diabetes.

But the memories of her beautiful baby boy dance through her mind and heart every day, she said.

"Everything about Roy, I hold close to my heart and try to cherish. I remember all the good times we had together. He was my little partner. We were never separate unless I had to go to work."

Carrying on through the tears

Despite the unimaginable pain, Vascez-Corleone knew she had to find the strength to survive.

"I don't know what it was, but I felt like I couldn't just give up after Roy died," she said. "I still had a daughter who needed me."

To add to the horror, many people tried to accuse Vascez-Corleone of having something to do with her son's death.

"People make up rumors saying I had something to do with it. People were just being cruel," she said. "I was never even under investigation. Even nowadays when I get into arguments I'm called a baby killer."

While Jones' defense attorney maintained that the victim's mother bore some responsibility for her son's death, Judge Hames Hudson said during the sentencing that he was offended by the suggestion that anyone other than Jones was responsible, according to the district attorney's office, which added that its investigation with Child Protective Services found no evidence to support the allegation.

Also, Vascez-Corleone said, 10 individuals made false statements about her; they didn't think they'd be called to testify, she said.

Not only was she never under investigation, Vascez-Corleone said, "I wasn't even there when this happened to Roy."

She added that the rumors, which were not based in any fact, cut deep at a time when she was already broken with grief. "That's the worst thing in the world to hear, because as a parent, you already feel responsible."

Still, she had to look inward to find the strength to persevere: "As many hurtful things that people were saying about me, I had to prove them all wrong and show then that their opinions didn't matter. I just knew I had to live the life Roy never got to live so that he and his memory will live through me and my children."

Vascez-Corleone, who visits her baby's grave often, said if she could speak to her son today, she'd send him a message. "I would tell him that I am sorry that I couldn't be able to be there that day and protect him, and that I wish we could trade places because he deserved to live a longer life," she said. "And I hope I am making him proud by keeping his memory alive. I wish Roy's body could turn into a seed that I could replant in my body, so that I could give birth to him, all over again."

No justice for Roy

Despite his jail term, Vascez-Corleone said no amount of time would be enough for her baby's killer.

"I don't believe justice will ever be served in this matter. This man was lucky to get a sentence of 16 to life," she said.

Vascez-Corleone said her other children, a daughter, 9, and son, 3, keep her strong.

"When I got pregnant after Roy, it was like I knew Roy was sending me another son. Three months into the pregnancy they could tell that it was a boy, and lo and behold, it was," said Vascez-Corleone. "I feel that Roy lives through me and my children, and I tell them all the time that they have to live their lives and succeed for their brother because he is not here to do it for himself. He is their guardian angel."

Religion has helped Vascez-Corleone through her most painful hours. "I believe in God — and I also am aware there is a devil."

She added that her faith in Jesus is stronger than ever.

"I know he brought Roy into my life for a reason and took him home early for a reason," she said. "He saved me and made me a stronger person. I have nerves of steel now — and I believe because of Roy I can accomplish anything."