A Glynn County man will spend the next 25 years in prison after pleading guilty in Appling County Superior Court last week to attacking two children with a knife in January 2022.
Torrance Markale Jones, 39, of Brunswick, pleaded guilty on March 9 in front of Brunswick Judicial Circuit Judge Stephen Kelley to entering a home in Appling County where four juveniles were home alone and hitting, strangling and stabbing two of them, a release from the District Attorney’s office said. The children were 4, 6, 11 and 14 years old.
“Jones was armed with a knife and attacked the 11-year-old male child by striking him, strangling him, and at some point, plunging the knife into the boy’s head,” the release said.
When the 14-year-old female ran into the room upon hearing the screams and attempted to help, Jones turned his attention to her and attacked her with the knife, the release said.
They were both able to get away from Jones and fled to a neighbor’s home to call for help.
“The two younger children were witnesses to the attack, which traumatized all of the children and resulted in the male child having to receive staples in his head to close the wound and the female needing nine stitches to a finger,” the release said.
Jones was found a few days later in Jacksonville by U.S. Marshalls, after which he provided multiple stories to law enforcement, the release said. The shoes he was wearing at the time of his arrest had blood on them that was later matched to the 11-year-old boy.
Jones was convicted with the guilty plea of two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a knife during the commission of a felony and two counts of cruelty to children in the third degree. He was sentenced to 45 years, the first 25 of which are to be served in prison and the remaining 20 years on probation.
Assistant District Attorney Hunter Smith prosecuted the case for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office.
