NAPERVILLE, Ill. – A Chicago woman has been found guilty for her role in the barbaric execution-style murder of a Naperville man in 2018.
It took a jury about 90 minutes to reach the verdict for 43-year-old Candice Jones.
On Jan. 18, 2018, Naperville police responded to Whispering Hills Drive for a report of a missing man, identified as 20-year-old Michael Armendariz, who was last seen around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 14.
Prosecutors say Armendariz received a Snapchat message from one of Jones’ co-defendants, 26-year-old Cassanda Green, of Rockford, at about 9:11 p.m. on Jan. 14. After receiving that message, it’s alleged that Armendariz left his apartment and got into a vehicle driven by Green. Five minutes later, prosecutors say 27-year-old Ernest Collins came out of hiding in the back of the vehicle and shot Armendariz twice in the back of the head.
Collins and Green then took Armendariz’s body to Chicago where they stuffed it in a garbage can and placed the bin in Collins’ mother’s garage, prosecutors said. Collins’ mother is Jones.
Then, at some point, the garbage can was moved to the garage of a vacant home next to Jones’ home.
According to prosecutors, Collins and Green also took Armendariz’s apartment keys and burglarized his home the day after the murder.
Armendariz’s body was discovered in the vacant garage several months later.
A month after the murder, all three suspects were taken into custody.
Ernest Collins, his girlfriend Cassandra Green and his mother Candice Jones are accused of the murder of Michael Armendariz, whose body was found in a garbage can in Chicago.
“This evening, a jury found Candice Jones, the last of three defendants charged in the murder of Michael Armendariz, guilty of first-degree murder,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said.
“Guilty verdicts, however, cannot bring Michael back to those who loved him. The diabolical plot devised by Candice Jones, Ernest Collins and Cassandra Green, and the execution of that plot, left a void in the lives of Michael’s surviving family and friends that will never be filled. I wish them strength as they continue their lives, having replaced Michael’s presence with just his memory
Jones is due in court on Dec. 18. She faces up to 75 years in prison.
Collin’s is back in court on Nov. 29. and faces up to life in prison.
Green is due in court on Nov. 13.
