Police Arrest Two In Fatal Stabbing

Two people are in custody in a slaying a year ago that had prompted the victim’s family to erect a billboard seeking leads.

Police on Friday arrested a 40-year-old Seattle man not far from where the killing took place, and another man was already in jail on an unrelated charge. They are accused in the assault, robbery and fatal stabbing of Rigel Jones of Juanita.

Police released little information about the arrests, but did reveal that the 12-by-25-foot billboard erected for a month last fall at Alaskan Way and Yesler Way in the Pioneer Square district did not point them to the suspects now being held in King County Jail.

Jones, 24, the son of a former Fire Department safety officer, was killed in the Pioneer Square area last Feb. 4. He was out with a girlfriend when they became separated in a crowd. He later was found dead next to his truck, which had the door open and the engine running.

Jones was either pulled from his vehicle or enticed from it, robbed of his pager and wallet, and stabbed twice in the chest, police said.

His family later put up a billboard at the scene, seeking information that would lead to an arrest. The billboard featured a huge photo of Jones and the message: “Were you here when I was murdered?”

Downtown businesses also posted a $10,000 reward. xxxx