Restraining order documents shed new light on timeline leading up to woman’s execution-style murder

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - A desk at New Orleans First City Court sat empty Tuesday, one day after Cassandra Jones was murdered in broad daylight by a man she reportedly considered filing a restraining order against.

FOX 8 has obtained a copy of the 25-page temporary restraining order that Jones filed in May but never showed up in court to follow through on.

It alleges Brown punched, choked, shoved, kicked, threatened, intimidated, and sexually abused her, along with mental, emotional, and financial abuse.

It details an early morning incident on April 27 around 3:30 a.m. when Brown allegedly came over and they began to fight.

Jones says she told him to get out and he hit her with a belt several times bruising her.

911 was called and Jones says Brown punched her and threw her to the ground, stomping on her.

Once police arrived, she says Brown jumped off her upstairs balcony to escape.

After the officers left, she says he got back into her apartment where they continued to fight and he tried to smother her with a pillow.

She also alleged there was another occasion where she confronted him about cheating on her and he punched her, knocking her teeth out.

Brown has a lengthy criminal history, spanning more than a decade across several parishes. Most of the charges come from St. John the Baptist, where he had been arrested more than 10 times over the past 10 years.

He’s been arrested at least twice for domestic abuse battery. Court records show Jones as the victim of at least one of these incidents. Both times the charges were dropped by the victim.

Some of the other common charges were simple robbery, battery and assault, along with resisting an officer and flight from an officer. There’s even one charge of injuring or killing a police animal.

All of this, along with various drug charges.

Many times, he appears to have been arrested with outstanding warrants.

The First City Clerk of Court, Austin Badon, says Jones was leaving her house on her way to work. Police say that’s when BJ Brown shot her just before 9:30 a.m.

Cell phone video of her horrific execution-style killing has been widely shared on social media.

In the harrowing video, a man believed to be Brown walks over to Jones after she’s shot and nearly dead in the apartment parking lot and fires two more rounds into her body.

“Walked down the street with a gun, a long gun, without any fear of repercussions and shoots someone for whatever reason in broad daylight,” Badon says. “Seemingly, this individual walked away and came back and finished her off.”

After the shooting, Brown fled to Tennessee where he reportedly shot a cop during a traffic stop and ran off into the woods. The NOPD has obtained an arrest warrant for Brown for second-degree murder.

Badon says Jones had domestic issues with Brown and even considered filing a temporary restraining order against him.

“We spoke about it and I told her she had my full support and I encouraged her to go through with it but I believe she decided not to,” he says.

More: Execution-style New Orleans murder suspect accused of fleeing to Tennessee, shooting police officer

Actor and mentor Ameer Baraka says the video clearly shows that Brown hunted down his victim.

“This generation has no fear... they have no fear,” Baraka says. “Animals don’t do this. This is barbaric. This is inhuman behavior. It is pure evil to do something like that.”

Badon, like others, is upset that the brutal killing was circulated on social media.

“What did we come to as a society when we put that stuff out there on social media?” he asked. “It’s just heartbreaking that instead of rendering aid and help, people decided to pull out their phones and put that stuff out there.”

Jones leaves behind two children. She’s described as being a hard worker, only trying to provide for her family.

“Her future has now been cut short,” Badon says. “Now she’s a statistic for gun violence and domestic violence.”

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