Jones was Corey Winzer's first cousin, but he was more than that.
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"He's my brother, we were that close, and I want him back," Winzer said.
Early Monday morning, Jones was shot and killed at a bar on Dowling Street. Winzer was there with him.
"The bar was packed, and the only thing I can figure is he stepped on somebody's foot," Winzer said. "The last thing I heard him say is 'you didn't give me time to say something.' Then the guy pulled out a gun and started shooting."
He leaves behind four children, the eldest of whom is a mechanical engineering major at TSU.
"He taught me everything I needed to know about being a man," Quintin Winzer said. "He was a football player at TCU, and he loved to teach kids. He lived life to the fullest."
The gunman escaped out a back door at the bar, while his cousin stayed with Jones.
Investigators are still looking for his killer.
It all began around 1:20 a.m. Police say there was some sort of fight, and then the bullets began flying.
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Police said a surveillance camera caught the moment the victim was shot, but it did not capture the shooter.
Jones's family said he was a 'devoted' father of four children, and worked at Lee High School, helping to inspire special ed students. Jones also worked at Westbury and Jones High Schools, as well, according to his family.
He had just delivered toys to children in need on Saturday, just hours before he was killed.
His mother remembers the last time she saw him.
"He gave me a hug and a kiss," Sandra Holbert said. "It's just senseless, just senseless."
Jones's family says someone in the club had to have seen the shooter's face. Right now, HPD says they have three witnesses but are hoping more will come forward to help put Jones's killer behind bars.
At least seven calls to that address have been placed in the last six months, police said. Three were for assaults, one "assist officer" call and three for loud noise.
The problems have not gone unnoticed by neighbors.
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"I heard three gunshots and I sat up in bed," a woman who asked not to be identified said of today's shooting. "I said, there it goes."
"I'm not surprised that someone got shot," said another man. "You hear gunshots all the time, especially on the weekend, when it's the worst."
For Corey Winzer, the bar was a place where he and Jones had gone for years. Neighbors said the crowd has become younger and louder in recent months, after another bar closed down on Dowling. Customers migrated, they said, to D-Bar.
Security video is being examined to check for a picture of the suspect.
Anyone with information on the shooting can call Crimestoppers at 713-222-tips.
Jones's family also said they are upset after several photos of their loved one's body began circulating on social media.
They fear his kids may see the photos, and hope to shield them from seeing their father in the aftermath of the shooting.