HENNEPIN COUNTY, MN - A man in his sixties has been sentenced after being convicted of murdering a woman he just met after a dispute over a measly $30. He shot her directly in the heart and she immediately died.
The suspect, 66-year-old Raymond Jones, was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder in the death of 43-year-old Desirae Argueta-Joj, Law & Crime reported. Jones was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for the death, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said in a press release.
The shooting happened on November 5, 2025, at an apartment in the 2600 block of West Broadway in Minneapolis. Upon arriving on scene, police found the victim holding a knife and suffering from a gunshot wound. She was dead when they arrived, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Jones called 911 and first said she had a gun and it went off during a struggle. "I had help pulling the trigger," he told police. But Jones couldn't further explain how exactly the gun went off during the struggle. He also did not have any defensive wounds.
Jones explained how he picked up Argueta-Joj earlier in the day and intended to pay her for sex. They ended up back at his apartment, but it "wasn't working" and the victim stood to leave. Jones said he prevented her from leaving the apartment when he noticed his $30 in cash was missing. She pulled out a knife. "She just flipped the whole script," he told police.
That's when he grabbed his gun and the so-called struggle ensued. Prosecutors disputed Jones' claim that the gun went off by accident. They allege that he placed the gun over Argueta-Joj's heart and pulled the trigger because he was mad about the $30. He should have been convicted of second-degree intentional murder, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said.
"My thoughts are with Ms. Argueta-Joj's loved ones. She should still be alive," the prosecutor stated. She said they asked for 15 years in prison but got just over a decade.
"Mr. Jones is a 66-year-old man who does not take responsibility for his actions. Because of a dispute over $30, he fired his gun at contact range into Ms. Argueta-Joj's heart," Moriarty said. "The facts of this case make the verdict, the sentence, and the ways in which blame was apportioned to the victim in court minimize Mr. Jones' culpability for his actions."
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