Lucas County judge sets $1.37 million bond against Canton teen accused of murder

A Canton teen accused of a 2023 homicide in Sylvania Township near Toledo has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Kaitlyn Coones, 17, a runaway teen living in a foster home in Stark County, was arraigned Wednesday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, accused of killing 53-year-old Nicole Jones on April 19 in Jones' home.

Judge Gary G. Cook set Coones' bond at $1.37 million, according to Lucas County court records. She was represented in court by attorneys Autumn D. Adams and Jeffrey Crowther, who were court-appointed. Adams declined comment.

Coones is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on April 3. She is being held in the Lucas County Juvenile Detention Center.

In January, a grand jury indicted Coones - initially charged as a juvenile - on felony charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. She will be tried as an adult.

Coones and Jonathon Jones, now 34, were arrested May 6 in Mexico after an international manhunt. The pair had some type of relationship but the details remain unclear. In November, News 5 reported Coones allegedly killed Nicole Jones after Jonathon Jones wouldn't.

Nicole Jones' body hasn't been found.

Jonathon Jones was indicted Aug. 17 on charges of aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. In October, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Jones has a pretrial date set for March 20.

Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Kaitlyn Coones, 17, pleads not guilty to slaying of Nicole Jones