Left inset: Lucas Jones (Brevard County Sheriff's Office). Right inset: Colie Daniel (WESH/YouTube). Background: Lucas Jones in court after allegedly killing and dismembering Florida resident Colie Daniel, who lived in Jones' neighborhood (WKMG/YouTube).
A Florida teen told his girlfriend "I killed somebody and cut him up" after attacking a man in his neighborhood with a baseball bat, dismembering him, and then collecting the victim's blood to keep on microscope slides, according to police.
Lucas Jones, 19, of Indialantic, claimed in a conversation with the girlfriend that he wanted to murder Colie Daniel, 28, because he was a registered sex offender who was living in his neighborhood, an arrest affidavit states. Online records show that Daniel was, in fact, a sex offender convicted in 2018 of lewd or lascivious battery with a victim 12 to 15 years of age.
"He wanted to kill him," the girlfriend allegedly recounted to police.
"He had a printed list of nearby sex offenders," the affidavit states. "Daniel did reside nearby and was likely on this list of registered sex offenders Jones printed."
Jones allegedly told his girlfriend that he murdered Daniel "with a baseball bat and cut up his body with a cleaver, a saw, and a knife." Jones then placed Daniel's remains in two separate suitcases and two large Rubbermaid totes, per the affidavit.
A portion of Daniel's dismembered remains were found in an area known as the "Compound" in Palm Bay, along Bombardier Boulevard, on March 28. Vultures were spotted swarming around an abandoned suitcase, which led to the discovery.
Daniel's parents had reported him missing on March 22 and informed police that he told them he was going over to a house about a mile away from their home; he never returned after saying he would be home for dinner.
The parents said they used "Find My iPhone" on Daniel's iPad, which was left at their home, to determine that his cellphone was at 420 Watson Drive — Jones' address, according to an affidavit for a search warrant.
They went over to the address on March 20.
"[Jones] confirmed that Colie Daniel was inside of his home, but … he refused to come to the door," the affidavit says. "Colie Daniel's parents refused to leave without seeing their son, so Lucas Jones called law enforcement, who responded to the scene."
While the Indialantic Police Department and Colie Daniel's parents were both on scene, Jones' girlfriend arrived at the home. They had only been dating for about a month and a half, according to police.
"She often spends the night at Lucas Jones' house and arrived on this evening after she got off of work," the search warrant affidavit says.
Jones allegedly told his girlfriend to not say anything and go inside. He refused to let the parents and police enter his residence to see if Daniel, who had not been reported missing yet, was there, the arrest affidavit states.
"No contact was ever made with Daniel that evening," the arrest affidavit says, noting how his parents and the responding officers left. "The residence at the time law enforcement and victim family members were there was an active crime scene, and Jones was in the process of cleaning up," the document alleges.
Jones' girlfriend later told cops that when she walked inside the home, Jones told her "I killed somebody and cut him up" and confessed that it was Daniel, according to the arrest affidavit.
"Jones had already cleaned up most of the blood inside of the home, but she still saw blood in the tile grout, the carpet rugs, the baseboards, and the wall outside of his bedroom," the arrest affidavit says. "She also noticed one tile outside of his bedroom was cracked and dented in the shape of a head."
Police returned to Jones' home on the morning of March 21 — the day before Daniel's parents reported him missing — but were unable to find any sign of him after being let into the residence to look around. After they eventually left, Jones' girlfriend said he asked her to ride with him in her car to "throw away" the suitcase and totes containing Daniel's remains, according to the affidavits.
"Shortly after Indialantic Police Department departs, so does Jones who is accompanied by [the girlfriend]," the arrest affidavit says. "Prior to departure, Jones loaded up at least two gray Rubbermaid storage totes and at least one black suitcase into the back seat."
The couple allegedly made multiple stops "removing each tote and the suitcase from the vehicle at separate locations" throughout the Compound area in Palm Bay, according to police. After Daniel's remains were discovered, authorities returned to Jones' home with a search warrant and allegedly found evidence of blood throughout the residence.
On March 30, two days after the remains were found, Jones' girlfriend came forward and confessed to police about what allegedly happened. She told them about items Jones used to clean up the crime scene and other objects used during the commission of the murder, according to the arrest affidavit.
"These items include but not limited to carpet rugs, paint used in covering up the walls and baseboards, residential trash cans, drills, plumbing pea-traps and evidence of microscope slides containing biological-matter," the arrest affidavit says. "A drill bit was located in a bag along with some of the remains. There was an injury observed consistently with a drill hole, similar in size to the drill bit found."
In the Showtime television series "Dexter" the main character, Dexter Morgan, is a serial killer who collects blood on microscope slides.
Jones was arrested and charged with murder, abuse of a dead body, transporting a human body in unauthorized containers, and tampering with evidence. He is being held without bond and is due to be arraigned on April 21.
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