Early Life
Jones was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Captain Ashton Blair Jones, Jr., and his wife, Mary Kalloumenous, who were living the military life on the Great Lakes Naval Base. Jones' father served as a communications and tactical officer during World War II, and later was the Director of the Navy Material Laboratory in Brooklyn, New York, where he met and married Mary Kalloumenous. Jones has a sister, Janet Jones, who is now the Director of the Career Center at Rutgers University.
Jones suffered the loss of both her parents at an early age. Her mother, Mary, died of a heart attack when Jones was 17, and her father, Blair, died of a heart attack just days after Jones turned 21. According to Jones, being surrounded by tragic circumstances at a young age became a theme in her life. When Jones meets a person who has suffered a sudden loss, she feels she can "empathize completely" with them. The fact that Jones has dedicated her career to "a life of crime" and crime victims is not accidental. "Though it was so many years ago that my parents died," Jones recalled, "the heartbreak always stays with me. No one really gets over the loss of their closest family, but I have used my life's work to try to help others find a moment of catharsis."
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