Woman arrested for killing her roommate and setting the house on fire to cover her tracks
In what can be seen as a crime of passion, North Texas deputies arrested a woman who was reportedly on a run after she killed her roommate. Kristen Elizabeth Jones, 21, decided to murder her roommate after she found out that she was exchanging texts with her ex-boyfriend. In order to cover her tracks, Kristen decided to set her Oklahoma home on fire. Despite all these measures, Kristen was arrested on Monday (July 31) around 12.30 pm. Authorities had been looking for Kristen in connection to the house fire that was reported on the same day around 9.30 a.m. While the firefighters were trying to put out the fire they discovered the body of Kristen's roommate just outside the back door.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit obtained by The Oklahoman, jealousy had got the better of Kristen after she discovered that her 23-year-old Miranda Pederson was sharing texts with her ex-boyfriend Bryson Harrington. Interestingly, Bryson also lived with the two ladies in the same house, even after his relationship with Kristen had ended. In order to further investigate the case, authorities spoke to both, Bryson and Kristen's mother. The authorities then advised both of them to call Kristen to get a lead on the investigation. The call was monitored by the police in order to understand the motive of the incident and secure a lead to Kristen's position.
During the call, Kristen stated that Miranda had stabbed her in the hand after the two got into an argument over Bryson. The situation went out of hand as the two started arguing about the texts exchanged. The affidavit further states that Kristen then went and retrieved a gun from her room. She shot Miranda in the head and decided to cover up the tracks by burning the house because she was scared she would get caught. Kristen and Bryson had recently ended their relationship after dating for two years. "The suspect was extremely upset over this being the end of their relationship, and that's where [Harrington] felt this had started," Oklahoma County sheriff's investigator Paul Harmon said at a news conference, as reported by Dallas News.
It is unclear what led to their split but court records show that Kristen and Bryson had applied for a marriage license in May.
Court records show Jones and her fiancee filed for a marriage license this past spring, however, it is unclear whether the two wed or not. The police got the required lead on the whereabouts of Kristen and after finding out that she had headed south into Texas, they contacted the Cooke County Sheriff's Office to track her down. After some time, Kristen's car was found by the police near Gainsville.
Body-cam footage from the traffic stop shows that Kristen immediately surrenders to the police. Three dogs get out of her SUV that she was driving. Kristen now faces charges of murder, arson and desecrating a human corpse and was being held without bail on Wednesday at the Oklahoma County jail.