Two-time felon charged in fatal shooting of Long Beach man in December

A Los Angeles man has been charged with killing a 34-year-old man in Long Beach in December, according to authorities.

Keonte Runell Jones, 23, who is also known as “Blue Dawg,” pleaded not guilty Jan. 22 to one count of murder with allegations that he used a handgun and committed the crime in association with a street gang, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

He is accused of shooting Roosevelt Newton at Orange Avenue and East Washington Street in Long Beach on Dec. 10.

Jones, a black man, is also charged with being a felon in possession of a handgun. According a criminal complaint, Jones was convicted of robbery in 2011 and in 2009.

According to Long Beach police, Jones walked up to Newton on the street, shot him, then fled before officers arrived.

Newton was taken to the hospital, where he died the following day.

On Jan. 16, Long Beach police began pursuing a vehicle suspected of being involved in an armed carjacking that occurred in Los Angeles, according to a department news release.

The chase ended in the 1400 block of Orange Avenue after the vehicle was involved in a collision.

Officers arrested Jones, the driver of the car, and his passenger, Derion Marquise Harris, 19, according to the district attorney’s office.

In addition to the charges stemming from the December incident, Jones also faces a charge of fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle while driving recklessly.

Harris was also charged with carrying a loaded, unregistered handgun and carrying a loaded firearm in association with a criminal street gang.

Jones is being held in lieu of $4 million bail. He is scheduled to appear in court on March 16 for a prehearing conference in Department S01 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s Long Beach Courthouse.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.