Janeal Nicole Jones was born on October 1st, 1980, in Wilmington, Delaware. She was the daughter of James E. Neal Jr. and Lovella Delacy Jones, and attended schools in New Castle County before continuing her education at Edgewood High School in Maryland. She later attended the Keystone School Job Corps program in Pennsylvania, where she pursued studies in information technology and early childhood development. At the time she was killed, Janeal was just weeks away from celebrating her thirty-third birthday.
At around seven thirty on the morning of Thursday, August 8th, 2013, a passerby walking through Wilmington made a disturbing discovery in a vacant lot in the 600 block of East 14th Street. Lying among the brush was the body of a young woman who had suffered fatal stab wounds.
Police responded to the location and began investigating the circumstances surrounding her death. The victim was subsequently identified as Janeal Jones.
One of the most important details eventually disclosed by Wilmington police concerned the circumstances immediately preceding Janeal’s stabbing: they confirmed that the victim had been involved in a fight that occurred shortly before she was killed.
As Wilmington detectives investigated the crime, they were already confronting another disturbing homicide involving a female stabbing victim. On July 12th, 2013, thirty-four-year-old Samantha Neuwien had been discovered critically injured inside her apartment above her family’s appliance business on Shipley Street in Wilmington. Neuwien had suffered severe injuries from a beating and stabbing. She survived the initial assault but remained in a coma for sixteen days before dying.
Her murder occurred less than a month before Janeal Jones was discovered in the vacant lot on East 14th Street. Both women had been attacked violently, both had suffered stab wounds, and neither case had produced an arrest in the weeks following the crimes.
The similarities attracted the attention of investigators, who considered whether the two killings might be connected. However, there were also important differences. Samantha Neuwien had been attacked inside her apartment, while Janeal Jones’s body had been discovered outdoors. The publicly released accounts did not establish whether the women knew one another, had shared acquaintances, or had encountered the same individual before their deaths.
Investigators consequently had to determine whether the similarities represented evidence of a common offender or were merely a coincidence. The possibility of a connection became sufficiently concerning that Wilmington police sought federal assistance.
According to a September 12th report originally published by The News Journal and subsequently distributed by the Associated Press, Wilmington police had approached the FBI during August. The request was intended to provide additional investigative expertise and an independent examination of the evidence.
The FBI was asked to review the circumstances of the attacks and determine whether any similarities might indicate that the murders were connected. At that point, neither investigation had produced a publicly identified suspect, and there had been no arrests.
No subsequently verified police statement has established that Janeal Jones and Samantha Neuwien were killed by the same individual. The two murders therefore remain separate investigations, despite the circumstances that originally prompted police to consider possible similarities.
In March 2025, the true-crime podcast First State Unsolved published an episode featuring Janeal Jones’s mother and brother. The interview was presented as a follow-up to the podcast’s earlier coverage of her murder, giving relatives an opportunity to speak about a case that had received comparatively little sustained attention.
Then, almost thirteen years after Janeal’s slaying, Wilmington authorities brought renewed attention to her case. On July 1st, 2026, NBC10 Philadelphia reported that the Wilmington Police Department’s Cold Case Unit was requesting assistance from the public in solving her homicide.
The department did not announce a new suspect, an arrest, or a major forensic breakthrough. Instead, investigators focused on encouraging anyone with potentially useful knowledge to contact them.
As of October 2026, Wilmington police continued to list Janeal Jones’s murder as an active cold case.
