Black car with pink trim, with the pink Free Matt Jones Bumper sticker. I am sure so many of you have seen it in traffic but wonder exactly who is this mystery man Matt Jones? Does he deserve to be Free? What did he do? For those who ask I happily explain if I have the time, but for so many I can't and after 10 years of having it on my car I felt it was time that I make this information accessible to anyone. My name is Cora, Matthew Jones is my cousin. We were born 2 months and 11 days apart, same year. Practically twins lol. No but seriously we were raised as so, he is older and we have been inseparable since. He has always been my big brother, there was never a time he did things without me or vice versa. The most kind hearted family loving person you could ever know. He knew how to become friends with people from all walks of the park and avoided trouble as much as he could. When we were separated at 11, it was a huge change for me and an even worse one for him. He moved to carbondale illinois and became surrounded by bad influences, and difficult situations including the death of an uncle. Along the way he made an enemy which happen to be the victim . Several accounts he was shot at and had to fight this same person. The police were notified of several incidents and nothing had been done.September 13th 2011 was the day my cousin had to choose to live. The victim who lived across town came to Matts neighborhood (literally live less than a block away from his friends house) to attend a party. When he seen Matt was across the street he began to address Matt in a hostile way. He then began to approach Matt with his hand behind his back, as he reach for his weapon Matt fired his first and fired one shot at the victim. After realizing what had happened Matt fled the scene but later turned himself in hoping they would believe that he was only defending himself and had feared for his life. Unfortunately Matt came from an low income family and could not afford and paid lawyer, so he was given a public defender that was disbarred for lack of professionalism. The Jackson county judge then proceeded to say that he would give him 35 years to make an example of him due to the fact the gun that was used was stolen. Matt did not steal the gun, the gun was sold illegally on the street and was acquired by Matt in fear of his life due to the lack of interference with the police after the first couple of shootings. Matt knew what he did was wrong but felt he had no other way out. After serving 10 years of his life Matt is ready to fight for the remainder of his life. I wholeheartedly believe in be reprimanded for your actions but giving an 18 year old kid with no record 35 years is not teaching a lesson. Nor do I feel that 10 years replaces both lives that have been taken. From the start of this Matt has been apoplectic to the victim's family and has even went as far as speaking with the victim's mother. Now it is left to him to find his way home. There are so many flaws in his case that lawyers are willing to take the cases for cheaper on the strong belief they can get a lesser sentence. We are currently working on it and so far has gotten 5 years taken off his sentence. We will continue to fight the system that did not choose to fight with Matt when he needed them the most. I know this is lengthy and there is so much more detail I wanted to add but I don't want to overwhelm you with reading. If you happen to read all of this thank you, and I hope this has given you little insight on the story and if you happen to want to give any advice or help this cause feel free to contact me ([email protected]) Thank you for your time.