Miami woman meets man on Craigslist, he moves in; now she’s in a coma

Danielle Jones 3
Danielle Jones via Facebook

Danielle Jones, 23, met Byron Mitchell, 35, on Craigslist a week before her Valentine’s Day birthday when he moved in. A week after moving him in, Jones is now in a coma. She was beaten unconscious at her Miami apartment. Now in the hospital in critical condition, she is suffering in with a brain injury and multiple scars from her face to her neck. He reportedly strangled her and attacked her with a knife. Jones’ family turned to GoFundMe to raise money for her treatment.


It appears Mitchell answered a Craigslist ad where Jones was in search of a roommate. He moved in on February 7. A spokesman for city of Miami Police Lt. Freddie Cruz told the Miami Herald, the pair became romantically involved.


Byron Mitchelle Mugshot 2

Jones’s mother Aimee Nikolove tells NBC that she doesn’t know if her daughter will wake up. “I’m still in shock, I can’t comprehend that someone can do this to someone, mutilate them in such a way and try to kill them.

“My daughter’s face is cut up like he was going to take her face off. She has a brain injury, no one knows what the prognosis is.”


Jones’ cousin, Kaitlin Cabot, writes on the GoFundMe page, “On the morning of February 14, 2016, 23 year old (night of her birthday) was bludge[o]ned, strangled and face mutilated in an attempted murder by a man she had accepted as a roommate after she placed an add on Craigslist.
She is in a coma, intubated and holding on to life…If and when she wakes, she will need extensive care and rehabilitation. Please help her any way you can. Even if just with prayers….” Bloodied, bruised and stitched-up, Jones is wearing a neck brace,

Claiming to be a fitness trainer, the Valentine’s Slasher is charged with attempted murder. He told the police he acted in self-defense because Jones had a knife. He is now in custody without bond at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, in Miami.

See pictures of Jones’ scars in the photo gallery.

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