By RUMMANNA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times
Dwayne Jones | Chicago Police
An Austin man has been charged with beating his mother's fiance Terrell Peterson to death in front of two young relatives who were watching cartoons in a bedroom of the family's home.After beating the 42-year-old Peterson, Dwayne Jones took off on one of the children's bicycles, Cook County prosecutors said Friday in court.
Jones, 20, was angry at Peterson because he thought he had taken his wallet, Assistant State's Attorney Kim Przekota said.
Jones searched the bedroom and patted Peterson down Wednesday morning before the two started fighting and ended up on the bed, Przekota said.
The bed was where Jones' 8-year-old half-brother and his mom's granddaughter, 9, were watching TV, Przekota said. The 8-year-old boy is the son of Peterson and Jones' mother.
Jones' mother told Jones to stop and tried to get the two children out of the room, but they saw Jones beating and choking Peterson, Przekota said.
Peterson was face-down on the bed while Jones kneeled over him and repeatedly hit him in the face and body, Przekota said.
Jones' mother, who said she heard her fiance call out, "I quit, I quit," several times, eventually ran to get a phone to call 911.
When she came back to the room, she told police she saw Jones on top of Peterson, who was bleeding and unresponsive on the floor, according to Przekota.
Jones got up and walked out of the room, Przekota said. One of the children saw Jones take the bicycle and ride away from the residence in the 800 block of North Central, authorities said.
When police and an ambulance arrived, Jones' mother told officers Jones might try to leave the Chicago area since his father lives in Wisconsin, Przekota said.
Jones was arrested at a Greyhound bus station at 630 W. Harrison three hours after the deadly beating.
On Friday, Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered him held on a $2 million bond.
Peterson, who was dead on the scene, died from asphyxiation caused by strangulation and multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Two of Jones' mother's other teenage children, who are nonverbal and autistic, also were home at the time of the beating.
Jones admitted to detectives that he punched Peterson several times on the bed and then "choked him out" on the floor because he thought he had his wallet, authorities said.