Chelsea Jones was a social butterfly who was fun, bubbly, and witty. But her family, including her two young children, were the most important things in her life.
That is how Jones was remembered Thursday, Nov. 19, by her older cousin, Sarena Harford Lamb, of Middletown, R.I.
Jones, 22, died Wednesday night, Nov. 18 after suffering a gunshot wound to the head Monday afternoon, Nov. 16. Jones was shot when her fiance, Dylan Grubbs, 23, of Thomaston, was showing a 9 mm Taurus handgun to a prospective buyer in the parking lot of Shaw’s Supermarket in Bath.
Jones had been sitting in the front passenger seat of a sport utility vehicle when the shooting occurred at 3:40 p.m. Monday. She was taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Lamb said Jones’ organs were donated so other people could live – something she would have wanted.
“Giving and helping people were important to her,” Lamb said.
Jones attended Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro. She had lived in Warren with her father, Keith Jones, and stepmother, Linda Jones, and in Hope with her mother, Marie Curtis, and stepfather, Darrel Curtis.
Jones and Grubbs recently moved to Thomaston. She worked at the McDonald’s restaurant in Thomaston.
“She was fun, bubbly, and beautiful,” Lamb said of her cousin. Lamb said she babysat for Chelsea when she was a young child. Lamb last saw her younger cousin on the Fourth of July, when the family got together at Megunticook Lake.
Chelsea was so happy to be the mother of her two children, a daughter, 2 1/2, and a son, 1 1/2 years old, Lamb said. The children will be staying with their father, Grubbs, who will be helped by Chelsea’s family, Lamb said.
“They will stay together as a family,” she said.
Chelsea’s family wanted it known that they urge people to educate themselves about gun safety, she said.
An autopsy for Jones is scheduled for Friday morning at the Maine medical examiner’s office in Augusta, according to spokesman Mark Belserene.
The Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit is handling the investigation into the shooting.
Grubbs was interviewed by police and is cooperating with investigators, according to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Stephen McCausland. The man who intended to purchase the gun witnessed the shooting and also was interviewed.
The gun was taken to the state police crime lab to be examined.
By early afternoon Thursday, Nov. 19, a gofundme account established for the young woman by Lamb had raised $1,905 toward a goal of $5,000.
All funds raised will go toward a memorial service, caring for her children. and the future needs of her children.
No information on a service for Jones was available.
