After a 10-day trial and more than a day of deliberations, a Clinton County jury has found 61-year-old Timothy Timmons guilty of second-degree murder in the killing of Jhafari Joseph, a Saint Lucian national who had been living in the United States for several years.
Timmons was convicted Wednesday October 15th, for shooting and killing the 29-year-old Joseph during what prosecutors described as a violent, drug-fueled confrontation at the home of Timmons’ ex-wife, Kelly Timmons, on Fuller Road in Peru on December 29, 2024.
Kelly Timmons and a longtime family friend, Chad Nichols, have also been charged in connection with the killing. Nichols admitted in court that he disposed of Joseph’s body at Timmons’ direction in the early morning hours of January 1, 2025.
Nichols testified that he drove a rented Nissan Rogue from the Timmons residence with Joseph’s body wrapped in a tarp, then dumped it down a steep, snow-covered embankment along Route 26 in the town of Franklin. He said he later discarded a carpet used to roll the body. Nichols told jurors he regrets his actions.
Joseph’s remains were recovered on February 13 after a New York State DEC forest ranger, spotted a hand and forearm protruding from the snow.This, after Joseph was reported missing by relatives. Holdridge said investigators used ropes to pull the body up the embankment due to the deep snow and steep terrain.
During the trial, jurors reviewed video recordings taken by Kelly Timmons on the night of the shooting, along with recorded phone calls Timothy Timmons made to his son after the killing. The defense requested that each juror affirm the verdict individually; all did so.
Members of Joseph’s family, who are originally from Saint Lucia, expressed relief outside the courtroom. “So happy that justice was served for my son Jahfari, because he didn’t deserve to die the way he did,” said Theresa Joan John, Joseph’s mother. “It was rough, it was emotional,” added his brother, Kevohn John. “My brother deserves justice, and he got it.”
Timmons is expected to be sentenced in January 2026.
