Murder Suspect Facing New Sex Trafficking and Prostitution Charges

(KNSI) — A St. Cloud woman already facing murder charges is also facing new charges of sex trafficking.

According to a criminal complaint, Angela Renee Jones was in the Wright County Jail, where she met the victim in February of this year. Investigators reviewed phone calls and text messages that showed Jones had specifically arranged for the woman to engage in sexual acts with her husband and pay her $300 plus lend her a van. There was also discussion about her selling drugs for Jones. According to phone calls in early March, there was confirmation the woman and Jones’s husband engaged in sexual activity, and he paid her $500. On May 22nd, investigators met with the woman, and she told them what happened. She said she felt “disgusted about what she did for money” and would not have done it except Jones was pressuring her.

There may be additional victims, and the investigation is ongoing.

June 1st, Jones was charged with sex trafficking, promoting and engaging in prostitution.

The charges come nearly two years to the day from when the body of Janessa Lashay Harris was found in her St. Cloud apartment. Police were called to the scene in the 1400 block of 12th Avenue North on June 2nd, 2021 and found Harris had been shot to death. A Stearns County Grand Jury indicted Jones on one count of first and second-degree murder in that case.

The next day, officers were called to the 4300 block of Cooper Avenue South in St. Cloud, where Keisa Marie Lange was found shot to death and her body lying in the street. Jones was charged with aiding and abetting.

Jones will be in court on Friday for her first appearance on the new charges. There is also a motion hearing set for today in the Harris case.

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