INDIALANTIC, FL – A 19-year-old Brevard County man is accused of killing a neighbor he believed should not be living nearby, then dismembering the body and preserving the victim’s blood on microscope slides, according to arrest documents that detail a sequence of events spanning several days and multiple locations.
Lucas Jones, 19, is charged in the killing of Colie Daniel, 28, whose remains were discovered March 28 in Palm Bay after vultures gathered near an abandoned suitcase. Authorities say Jones admitted the killing to his girlfriend, telling her, “I killed somebody and cut him up,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Investigators say Jones targeted Daniel because he was a registered sex offender living in the neighborhood. “He wanted to kill him,” the girlfriend told police. The affidavit adds, “He had a printed list of nearby sex offenders. Daniel did reside nearby and was likely on this list of registered sex offenders Jones printed.”
Discovery of remains and timeline of events
Daniel was last seen after telling his parents he was going to a house about a mile from their home and would return for dinner. He never came back. On March 22, his parents reported him missing and used a device tracking feature to locate his cellphone at 420 Watson Drive, identified by authorities as Jones’ residence.
Days earlier, on March 20, the parents went to the address. “[Jones] confirmed that Colie Daniel was inside of his home, but … he refused to come to the door,” the affidavit states. “Colie Daniel’s parents refused to leave without seeing their son, so Lucas Jones called law enforcement, who responded to the scene.”
Officers and the family left without making contact with Daniel. “No contact was ever made with Daniel that evening,” the affidavit says. “The residence at the time law enforcement and victim family members were there was an active crime scene, and Jones was in the process of cleaning up.”
According to investigators, Jones later told his girlfriend he carried out the killing “with a baseball bat and cut up his body with a cleaver, a saw, and a knife.” Authorities say the remains were placed into suitcases and storage containers and later discarded in multiple locations in the Palm Bay area known as the Compound.
Girlfriend’s account and evidence recovered
The girlfriend, who had been dating Jones for about six weeks, told police she saw signs of violence inside the home. “Jones had already cleaned up most of the blood inside of the home, but she still saw blood in the tile grout, the carpet rugs, the baseboards, and the wall outside of his bedroom,” the affidavit says. “She also noticed one tile outside of his bedroom was cracked and dented in the shape of a head.”
She also described accompanying Jones as he disposed of containers holding the remains. “Shortly after Indialantic Police Department departs, so does Jones who is accompanied by [the girlfriend],” the affidavit says. “Prior to departure, Jones loaded up at least two gray Rubbermaid storage totes and at least one black suitcase into the back seat.”
The pair made multiple stops, “removing each tote and the suitcase from the vehicle at separate locations,” investigators said.
On March 30, two days after remains were found, the girlfriend contacted authorities and detailed the alleged killing and cleanup. Investigators later recovered items they say were used in both the crime and efforts to conceal it. “These items include but not limited to carpet rugs, paint used in covering up the walls and baseboards, residential trash cans, drills, plumbing pea-traps and evidence of microscope slides containing biological-matter,” the affidavit states.
Authorities also noted physical evidence tied to the remains. “A drill bit was located in a bag along with some of the remains. There was an injury observed consistently with a drill hole, similar in size to the drill bit found,” the document says.
Jones was arrested and charged with murder, abuse of a dead body, transporting a human body in unauthorized containers, and tampering with evidence. He is being held without bond and is scheduled to be arraigned April 21.
