Ronald Schroeder of Huntington charged with hiding Seikeya Jones' body in suitcase
Candles and other mementos at a memorial in Huntington for Seikeya Jones, whose body was found in a suitcase near an apartment complex earlier in the week. Credit: Howard Simmons
Suffolk County police arrested a Huntington man Friday and charged him with hiding a woman’s body in a suitcase and leaving it in a wooded area in Huntington.
Homicide detectives and MTA police arrested Ronald Schroeder, 41, at Penn Station just before 2 p.m. Friday. He was also arrested on a bench warrant.
Schroeder was charged in concealing the death of Seikeya Jones, 31, whose body was discovered Tuesday near an apartment complex on Nassau Road, near New York Avenue.
Jones, whom family members nicknamed "Cheese" for her photogenic smile, was reported missing to police Aug. 16 after leaving her mother’s home on Fifth Avenue in Huntington Station.
Seikeya Jones' mother, Yolanda Terrell, in mask, hugs daughter Dijonzhane Johnson during a candlelight vigil Friday near the Huntington complex where Jones' body was found earlier in the week. Credit: Howard Simmons
She was discovered Tuesday by residents. They notified police, who were planning an autopsy to determine the cause of death.
Schroeder was charged with concealment of a human corpse and criminal possession of a controlled substance. He is set to be arraigned Saturday in First District Court in Central Islip.
Jones' family members knelt and sobbed during a candlelight vigil Friday night, unaware an arrest had been made. They created a memorial at the site where her body was found and wrote messages to her 4-year-old son so he would know his mother as he got older.
"Something good is going to come out of this and when all is said and done, my daughter will not have been left in vain," her mother, Yolanda Terrell, said. "My daughter is going to get justice. She did not deserve to get thrown in a ditch in that suitcase. No one deserves that."
Family and friends left a teddy bear, candles and flowers beneath a large poster of Jones. They scrawled messages for her and her son, Christian, who ran around nearby.
Terrell said she would continue to teach her grandson about her mother as he pointed out her photo. "He’s going to know the good about her. He will never not know his mother," she said.
Terrell said her daughter was one of five children who grew up in Huntington and graduated from Harborfields High School. Classmates came to pay respects, and her family called her "the life of the party."
"Everybody was her friend," Terrell said. "She didn’t see anything wrong in anybody and that’s what bothers me about what happened to her. But she loved everybody."
Jones was known for her singing and dancing, her cousin Tim Wilson, 21, of Bellport, said.
"She was calm and enjoying life," Wilson said. "What would make someone do that to another person?"
CORRECTION: Schroeder's age was misstated in a previous version of this story due to incorrect information from police.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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