MOUNT CLEMENS, MI — A Macomb County jury has convicted a Clinton Township man of murdering his girlfriend, the mother of his child, following a six-day jury trial in Circuit Court.
On Thursday, February 5, 2025 a jury found Jaion Barnes, 25, guilty on all counts in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Tianna Ross. The trial was held before Circuit Court Judge Matthew P. Sabaugh, with Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Elizabeth Abbo and Carrie Seward representing the People.
The convictions stem from a January 15, 2024 incident in Clinton Township. Prosecutors said Ross went to Barnes’s residence to drop off their child when she was shot multiple times. Barnes fled the scene but later turned himself in to authorities.
Barnes was convicted of the following charges:
- Homicide – Murder, Second Degree (felony punishable by life or any term of years)
- Felony Firearm (2-year felony, mandatory consecutive sentence)
- Felon in Possession of a Firearm (5-year felony)
- Domestic Violence – Second Offense (1-year misdemeanor)
Barnes was also found to be a Habitual Offender – Fourth Offense, which carries a mandatory minimum 25-year prison sentence under Michigan law.
Court records show Barnes has a documented history of violent and weapons-related convictions in Macomb County. In 2020, Barnes pleaded guilty to multiple felony offenses, including carrying a concealed weapon and receiving and concealing a firearm. He also pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation, a violent felony. Those convictions resulted in prison sentences, and Barnes was discharged in April 2023 — less than a year before the January 2024 killing of Tianna Ross.
Court records further show Barnes was previously placed on probation for violent conduct that later ended in revocation. In 2019, Barnes pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder or by strangulation, a violent felony under Michigan law. That case was handled under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act (HYTA), but court records indicate his probation was later revoked, resulting in his discharge in May 2020. The same court file also reflects additional HYTA probation cases tied to financial transaction device offenses that were revoked, underscoring repeated failures to comply with court supervision.
Barnes remains lodged in the Macomb County Jail and is scheduled for sentencing on Thursday, March 26, 2026, at 9:00 a.m.
“Today’s verdict holds the defendant accountable for the brutal murder of his girlfriend, the mother of his own child,” said Peter J. Lucido. “This senseless act has left a child without either parent and a family forced to carry this loss forever.”
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