North Fort Myers woman says her son killed friend in self-defense

Brittany Bernstein | The News-Press

A North Fort Myers woman says her son shot and killed her tenant and longtime friend in an act of self-defense Thursday night.

Lee County Sheriff's deputies are still investigating the incident and have only confirmed that Jerry Helton, 56, was the victim of a homicide.

Diane Cornelison said her son shot Helton, who was his neighbor, when Helton attacked him with gloves and a serrated knife in his Payne Lane home just before 8 p.m.

"My son was attacked by Jerry," she said. "From what I understand, it escalated into him grabbing his gun that he had by the door and he shot Jerry."

Efforts to reach her son, Roy Jones, were unsuccessful.

Previous coverage: Major Crimes Unit investigating homicide in North Fort Myers

Jones, 37, tried to fight Helton off with a baseball bat or get him to leave because he didn't want to fight him, she said.

Jones had been living next to Helton, her friend of 30 years, since January without incident, she said. Each occupied a separate home on the adjacent properties that Cornelison owns.

"They seemed to get along though they had their moments, you know, mouth wars like guys do," she said. "They were actually getting along actually awesome."

Cornelison had spent the day fishing with Jones but had returned home to her boyfriend's house for the night when her daughter called her after seeing the scene on the news.

"I'm still in a state of shock," she said. "I didn't know if he was dead or whatever had happened."

According to Cornelison, Jones was taken into custody but has since been cleared and released. Jones is taking shelter at a relative's house as the family has received multiple threats from neighbors in the Suncoast Estates community to whom Jerry was beloved, she said.

"Jerry (knew) a lot of people," Cornelison said of the man friends called "Junk Jerry" and "Gypsy Jerry." "He's like an icon in Suncoast."