WASHINGTON — A 23-year-old student at Cornell University, who was raised in
Montgomery County, Maryland, was killed on Thanksgiving, allegedly by her
boyfriend,
according to ABC 7
News.
Shannon Jones graduated from Winston Churchill High School in Potomac. She was
a senior at Cornell, where she majored in engineering and was known as a
standout student in the field of avionics and space technology, serving as a
key member of a student satellite project.
Police in New York have arrested her boyfriend, 32-year-old Benjamin Cayea,
for
allegedly strangling Jones during an argument. He reportedly told a friend
afterwards that Jones “would not stop coming at me, she would not stop
yelling. I did it. I choked her.”
Jones graduated from Winston Churchill in 2009. Contacted by WJLA, Scott
Selman, the
director of the theater technical crew, on which Jones participated, called
her “an amazing leader,” who “broke the norm.”
Police said that Cayea went to friend Jacob Ives’ home after the incident.
After telling him what he had allegedly done, he curled up in a ball on the
kitchen floor. Ives called 911 when Cayea indicated that he planned to hurt
himself. Ives said the couple had been dating for two years, and had a
turbulent relationship.
Jones’ brother John Jones, also interviewed by the local network, said he was
stunned. “I just couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I just don’t see how anybody
could do that.”
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