Background: The neighborhood in Alton, Ill., where Jarred Hayes was killed in November 2023 (Google Maps). Inset: Stanford Stokes (Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office).
A man who prosecutors said barged into the Illinois home of his ex-girlfriend and shot her new lover has been found guilty of murder.
Stanford Stokes, 44, of St. Louis, Missouri, had claimed self-defense ahead of his trial for the murder of 32-year-old Jarred Hayes, whom he shot on Nov. 7, 2023. According to courtroom reporting by local news outlet The Telegraph, prosecutors said that Stokes had entered the home of his former girlfriend and found her in bed with Hayes, her new boyfriend. Stokes then retrieved her handgun from her purse and fired at Hayes, who attempted to run away.
Stokes’ defense claimed that Hayes also had a gun and that Stokes was trying to defend himself. The jury, however, disagreed.
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According to prosecutors, who described the relationship as “on-again, off-again,” Stokes called his former girlfriend several times throughout the day before he arrived at her home on the night of Nov. 7, 2023. When he got to the door, he kicked it open, and found the woman and Hayes having sex.
Prosecutors said that Stokes, aware that the woman kept a handgun in her bag, “got her gun and shot” Hayes multiple times as he tried to escape Stokes. But Stokes’ fateful mistake was “inadvertently” making another call to his ex-girlfriend that captured the audio of the shooting. According to courtroom reporting by St. Louis-based Fox affiliate KTVI, Assistant State’s Attorney Luke Yager stated, “Twenty seconds after [Stokes] shoots, he’s still sitting there, arguing. He gets right up in her face, and he’s yelling at her.”
Hayes was found outside the home by police responding to reports of a shooting in the area. He was taken to a hospital in St. Louis where he succumbed to gunshot wounds. Alton, Illinois, sits on the state’s border with Missouri, close to the St. Louis area.
Stokes’ defense lawyers conceded that their client fired a gun at Hayes, but they claimed that Hayes had a gun himself. Stokes, they said, “did what he had to do to defend himself.”
Police said that Stokes fled Alton for Texas after the shooting, throwing the murder weapon in the Missouri River along the way. Stokes was arrested in Texas and extradited to Illinois’ Madison County for his trial.
In addition to first-degree murder, Stokes was also found guilty of home invasion and possession of a stolen firearm. His sentencing date has not yet been determined.
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