Bishop Demetrius McCollum Offers Church To Comfort Community After Double Homicide In Harvey
On July 30, 2026, a horrific double homicide claimed the lives of two residents inside a home in south suburban Harvey, Illinois. The fatal shooting took place near the intersection of 150th Street and Vine Avenue—directly across the street from Vineyard House Of Prayer Intl., the sanctuary pastored by Bishop Demetrius McCollum.
The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the local community, blending personal pastoral grief with a family’s desperate search for answers.
The victims were identified as 50-year-old Aaron Jones and 46-year-old Jwon L. Martin.
According to investigators, the violence erupted inside Martin’s home. Jones, who lived just three doors away, was not romantically involved with Martin; rather, his family states he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had dropped by her house that morning because Martin was kindly helping him enroll his 17-year-old son for the upcoming school year. Instead, Jones walked into a volatile, unfolding domestic situation involving Martin’s violent ex-partner.
The suspect reportedly broke through the glass of the door to force entry. Once inside, he opened fire, shooting both Martin and Jones multiple times. Paramedics pronounced both dead at the scene.
Proving the absolute brutality of the attack, the gunman also shot two dogs inside the residence, killing one and critically injuring the other. The suspected shooter immediately fled the area but was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound downstate in Farina, Illinois.
For Bishop Demetrius McCollum, the neighborhood violence struck a deeply personal chord. Upon receiving an urgent phone call about a major crime occurring directly across from his church, McCollum rushed to the scene. It was only then that he learned one of the victims was his own childhood friend. “I got to the church, and found out that it was my childhood friend, Aaron. I was devastated,” McCollum shared.
Former Harvey Mayor Eric Kellogg, a close friend of the family, remembered Jones as a pillar of kindness who consistently looked out for local senior citizens.
Now, Jones’ family, including his mother Dorene Herring, is pleading with authorities to allow them to review internal security camera footage from the home. Because the suspect is dead, the family believes viewing those final moments is their only path to true closure. In the wake of the heartbreak, Bishop McCollum opened his church doors to host community gatherings, offering a place of solace right across the street from where his lifelong friend was taken.
