Case Profiles #57
Angela Jones
On January 31st, 1989, at 6:00am, an employee at the Anderson Tool and Stamping Company, a factory building at 60 Mason Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, was taking out the trash. When he turned onto the loading dock, he saw the bleeding body of a young black female lying face down on the ground below the loading dock. The woman was wearing jeans and a black leather jacket and was covered in blood. Her left shoe was missing and her body was surrounded by shards of glass. The woman was later identified through fingerprints as 23-year-old Angela Jones. She had been stabbed multiple times before her body was dumped at the loading dock. She was also robbed of her belongings. The medical examiner determined that she had hemorrhaged severely as a result of her stab wounds. Police determined that she had been murdered between 1:00am and 3:00am earlier that morning, and she was the first murder in Worcester in 1989.
Angela had been living in a rooming house building not too far from the factory, and she was living with a man named James Watson. James told police he hadn’t heard from Angela in the two days leading up to her murder. The building manager was questioned by police for any additional information on Angela’s whereabouts and comings and goings leading up to her murder, but the building manager said that he didn’t recognize her name. On Saturday, January 28th, 1989, just three days before Angela’s murder, Angela had went to Fitchburg, Massachusetts to visit her mom. She called James Watson the next morning to let him know she was heading back to Worcester, but she didn’t see him when she got back. Instead she went to a friend’s house, and the next day she was with the friend’s sister. James Watson said that the friend’s sister was with Angela on the 30th of January until Angela got into a car, and the car drove away. Information regarding who the driver was or even where in Worcester Angela got into the car is unknown. It’s believed that she knew who the driver was as she would not get into the car of a stranger. Based on witness reports and investigation, the car Angela got into when she was last seen was small and dark with one of its windows broken. The broken glass around Angela’s body was from the car window. Police found several cars matching this description but none of them led to any further leads. Anyone with any information on the murder of Angela Jones is asked to please call the Worcester Police Department at 508-799-8651. Anonymous tips can also be sent by texting TIPWPD to 274637.
Terrance Driffin-Smith
On May 9th, 2007, 23-year-old Terrance Driffin-Smith left his New Haven, Connecticut home to walk to his girlfriend’s house. His father, Frederick Smith Sr., remembers telling his son to “please be careful” before he left at roughly 10:15pm. It wasn’t long before Frederick was alerted to hysterical screaming outside, which turned out to be Terrance’s girlfriend running down the street, exclaiming that he had been shot. A blue van had allegedly driven by and multiple rounds of gunshots were fired from multiple firearms. Terrance was brought to then-called St. Raphael’s hospital, where he died a short time later from his injuries. Terrance’s mother was in California at the time and got a phone call from her husband telling her that her youngest son was dead. Unfortunately, despite Terrance being one of four victims being shot that night (he was the only one who succumbed to his injuries), nobody came forward to give any information regarding the crime. To this day, no one has been brought to justice for Terrance’s murder. If anyone has any information about the murder of Terrance Driffin-Smith, please call the police investigative services unit at 946‑6304.
Image sources:
worcesterma.gov - “Case Details”
newhavenindependent.org - “Uncle Tells Mourners: ‘Somebody Saw It’”