Prosecutors played video in court Friday of an interview in which a murder suspect admitted he had a sexual encounter with the victim the day it’s believed she was killed.
During a four-and-a-half-hour session with detectives, David Cunningham eventually admits to the encounter with 23-year-old Melia Jones in December 2021.
Under questioning, Cunningham does not admit to killing Jones, but he begins crying when detectives tell him he’s being arrested for her murder. He then asks to speak to his mother.
Jones, who had Down syndrome, was found dead at the Mason at Van Dorn apartment building in Alexandria in December 2021. She had started living on her own for the first time shortly before her death.
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Prosecutors said an exhaustive police investigation led them to Cunningham, who lived just down the hall from the victim. He is accused of second-degree murder and sexual assault.
The autopsy showed Jones was strangled to death three days before her body was found.
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The trial resumes Monday, when the prosecution is expected to rest its case.
If convicted, Cunningham faces a mandatory life prison sentence.
