Other Jonestown members were away from the compound in Guyana’s capital city, Georgetown, at the time of the mass murders and suicides, including two of Jim Jones’ sons, who were participating in a basketball tournament. Jim Jones Jr., Jones’ adopted 18-year-old son, who is Black, learned that his father was planning to go through with his suicide plans. Jones Jr. and his brother, Stephan Jones, 19 at the time, went to the U.S. embassy looking for help. But it was too late.
Jim Jones Jr.’s first wife and unborn baby died that day. “Life’s over as I know it, what I believed in … who I loved … I was stripped bare naked,” Jim Jones, Jr. recalled (via ABC News). “I had nothing. Absolutely nothing.” He remarried and has three sons. For a long time, he went by James Jones but has since come to accept his past. After the Jonestown massacre, Stephan Jones had substance abuse issues related to his guilt. He has since recovered and is an executive at a furniture company, is married, and has three daughters. “I know I’ve reached a better place and I don’t fear lapsing back into the darkest times, but it’s a daily process and one that I’m grateful to have,” he told Haaretz.
