Fugitive from a murder charge in Detroit caught coming out of Chalmette costume shop

If Damian Jones was trying to disguise himself because he was wanted for murder in Detroit, he was too late.

St. Bernard Parish sheriff’s deputies were already waiting for him when he came out of a Halloween costume shop in Chalmette on Wednesday afternoon.

Jones, 23, who is from the Detroit area where he is wanted for an Oct. 4, 2013, murder, and Tianna Callaway, 22, who allegedly fled Michigan with him, were both arrested in a parking lot of a store in the 8800 block of West Judge Perez Drive.

Sheriff James Pohlmann said the Sheriff’s Office received information that a vehicle sought in connection with a man wanted for a murder in Detroit was heading into St. Bernard Parish and the suspect was believed to still be using it.

Deputies looked for the vehicle, a Dodge Neon with Michigan plates, and within minutes spotted it in the parking lot on Judge Perez Drive, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Neither Jones nor Callaway was armed or offered resistance, he said.

Jones was carrying a bag with a bumblebee costume from the store when he came out and then threw it on the ground before his arrest.

Callaway allegedly had a connection to New Orleans, where the pair apparently had been staying. There was no explanation for why they had come to a shop in Chalmette.

Jones, who also lived for years in the Montgomery, Ala. area, was held on an arrest warrant from Michigan issued in November 2013, alleging he had committed a murder using an AK-47 assault rifle that had been recovered. There was no information available on the victim of the killing. Jones reportedly has an extensive criminal record, Sheriff Pohlmann said.

Jones was booked into the St. Bernard Parish Prison as a fugitive and appeared before state District Judge Kirk Vaughn on Thursday morning, where he waived an extradition fight.

Jones is expected to be returned to Michigan for prosecution.

Callaway wasn’t listed as wanted in Michigan on a criminal charge but was booked in St. Bernard Parish as an accessory after the fact. She was being held Thursday in lieu of bond set at $10,000.