Washington County man sentenced to 30+ years in prison for murdering his cousin

NEWPORT, Minn. — A 39-year-old Twin Cites man has been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for murdering his cousin at a transit center last year.

Sylvester T. Jones pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder for the Feb. 6, 2023, shooting death of  39-year-old Terrell McIntyre at the Newport Transit Center.

At his plea hearing, Jones admitted to shooting McIntrye multiple times while his cousin sat in the driver's seat of an SUV.

According to the criminal complaint, surveillance cameras captured Jones walking off from the vehicle, and cameras at other local businesses recorded him as he fled the area. That allowed deputies to track Jones to his home on the 1700 block of First Avenue, about four blocks south of the transit center.

The county's SWAT team helped execute a search warrant that night, and Jones was arrested without incident. The sheriff's office says Jones "admitted to his involvement in his cousin's death," and investigators found a gun on his bedroom floor.

Jones was sentenced to 367 months in prison and ordered to pay $8,500 in restitution for reimbursement of funeral expenses.