With testimony underway for the murder trial of Benjamin Cayea, which began Friday morning, Glenna Dunaway, Shannon Jones’s ’15 psychotherapist, brought to light numerous incidents of violence between Cayea and Jones. Dunaway said Jones had spoken to her about multiple altercations, including a May 2014 incident where Jones said Cayea choked her, according to The Ithaca Journal. Additionally, James Terzian, a forensic pathologist, testified that Jones’ death was a homicide, according to The Ithaca Voice. Cayea is on trial for the second degree murder of Jones last November. In the opening arguments, the defense said there “was no question” that Cayea caused Jones’ death by asphyxiation in her Cayuga Heights apartment, but urged the jury to focus on “the question of intent.”
Dunaway testified that she had been counseling Jones for two years before her death, according to The Journal.