Man sought in Birmingham murder ‘held down’ by Oklahoma McDonald’s employees after carjacking attempt
Ardmore OK Aug 13 2022 The man sought in connection with a Birmingham arson and murder was nabbed in Oklahama after he tried to rob a woman of her vehicle.
Oklahama court records obtained Friday by AL.com say Youit De Witt Jones, 35, was held down by McDonald’s employees in the restaurant parking lot until police could arrive.
The incident happened in the city of Ardmore which is in Carter County, Okla. That location is about 100 miles south of Oklahoma City.
Jones has not yet been charged with any crime in relation to the Alabama homicide, which was discovered Tuesday morning on Birmingham’s west side. Birmingham police had issued an “urgent” lookout bulletin for Jones and labeled him “armed and dangerous.”
Birmingham homicide detectives have gone to Oklahoma to interview Jones.
The ordeal in Ardmore began at 10:38 p.m. Wednesday at the McDonald’s on Cooper Drive. Police were initially dispatched to a report of a disturbance there and learned while they were en route that a man was being held down in the parking lot by restaurant employees, according to charging documents against Jones in Oklahoma.
The female victim was sitting in a Nissan Altima waiting for her boyfriend to get off work, she told police. Jones approached her car and asked her if he could sit inside the vehicle with her.
The victim told him no because she was waiting for her boyfriend and because she didn’t know him. Jones, the affidavit states, then told her that her boyfriend said he could drive the car.
At that point he tried breaking into the vehicle and opened the car door. He hopped into the front seat with her, where he managed to push the start button and put the car in reverse.
The victim said she was hunched over the steering wheel honking the horn to try to get the attention of McDonald’s workers. One of the employees ran to her aid, at which point Jones was restrained.
Police have charged Jones with second-degree robbery, which is punishable in Oklahoma by up to 10 years in prison. It wasn’t immediately clear whether he has yet had a court appearance in Oklahoma.
On Friday, Jones remained held in the Carter County Jail on $200,000 bond.
Police are questioning Jones about the death of a person found inside a burning abandoned house in Alabama.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service responded at 2:45 a.m. Tuesday to the 1300 block of Eufaula Avenue on a report of a house fire. Firefighters arrived on the scene to find the abandoned house in flames.
Once they extinguished the blaze, they found a badly burned body inside. Authorities have not yet identified the victim, and Jefferson County Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said it could take anywhere between days and months to do so.
Less than one block away, authorities discovered the car of a missing Jefferson County man.
Nathan Gemeinhart, 42, left his southern Jefferson County home about 7:45 a.m. Monday and was going to check on some properties over on the west side of the county. He was supposed to meet his wife at 11:30 a.m. for his daughters’ Meet the Teacher school event, but never showed up.
Gemeinhart’s 2007 Toyota Corolla was spotted on surveillance cameras at 8:40 a.m. Monday on Aaron Aranov Drive in Fairfield. There was phone data at 8:49 a.m. and then nothing after that time.
Investigators said the probe is ongoing, and they are not commenting on any possible link to Gemeinhart’s car being found near the arson/homicide scene.
A GoFundMe for Gemeinhart, which says, “As we prepare to celebrate Nathan’s life,” has raised more than $100,000. The GoFundMe was started by Red Mountain Church where Gemeinhart’s wife, Jessica, is an administrator and director of the children’s ministry.
Gemeinhart’s car was found parked in front of a home on Pike Road. One house away is where Jones most recently had been living.
Only an alley separates Jones’ house from the abandoned house where the body was found.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Birmingham’s SWAT team descended on a house next to where Gemeinhart’s car was found. Detectives and evidence technicians conducted an extensive search of the home but what, if anything, they found has not been disclosed.
Court records show Jones has lengthy history of arrests, mostly for property crimes, drug charge and traffic violations.
In 2019, he pleaded guilty to second-degree arson and received a 10-year suspended sentence.
Most recently, Jones was arrested Aug. 6 in Autauga County after Alabama State Troopers said he was driving 114 mph on I-65 southbound and almost hit a state trooper. He was charged with attempting to elude, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.
In that case, Jones was a dark brown 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500, which is the initial vehicle Birmingham police listed in the lookout bulletin for him but later said was recovered in a separate “incident.”
Jones was released from the Autauga County Jail the following day, Sunday, Aug. 7, on his own recognizance.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
