Prayers Sought for Beaten Entertainment Photographer

They all smile for him.

The movie stars and athletes and people who have reason to be known. They all stop just for him, the gentle man behind the camera, whose passion for images--moments of joy captured forever--is near tangible.

But now the family of photographer Bill Jones is asking for something more.

“I want a prayer,” said Jones’ brother Art. “But not a mourning type prayer. His wife said she doesn’t want any mourning, because he’s going to make it.”

Bill Jones, a prominent entertainment photographer whose work regularly appears in Jet, Ebony and other African American-owned publications, was severely beaten in a bizarre incident Saturday morning, Los Angeles police said.

Jones, 62, was washing his car outside his home on 60th Street in the Crenshaw district when he was struck repeatedly in the head with a baseball bat, authorities said. He lies in a coma at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, where he is listed in critical condition.

“I think he will pull through,” said Dr. George Locke, chairman of neurosurgery at King-Drew. “With time he will continue to improve.”

The alleged assailant, Shai Alkebulan, 39, of Los Angeles, was arraigned Tuesday on a charge of attempted murder. Alkebulan, a substitute teacher for the Compton Unified School District, pleaded not guilty. He was being held in lieu of $550,000 bail, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

The motive for the beating is not known, Gibbons said.

At Jones’ home Tuesday, relatives and friends struggled to put together pieces that do not fit: a soft-spoken man and a brutal beating.

“He hit him from behind,” said Jones’ niece Vicky Jones-Boyd. “He never even saw it coming.”

The alleged assailant lived in an apartment complex nearby, but Jones was not acquainted with him, Jones-Boyd said.

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As news of the beating has spread, the family has received scores of calls from neighbors and celebrities alike.

Sinbad called. So did the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Gladys Knight and Denzel Washington.

“So many people have called,” Art Jones said. “Sinbad said, ‘He’s a photographer, but he’s a friend of mine too.’ That’s how he touched people’s lives. He’s a good friend.”

The same sentiments were shared by neighbors and others who have called and stopped by, he said.

“He’s the kind of person that never bothers anybody, speaks to everybody, always friendly,” said Jones’ daughter, Michelle Coleman.

At the family home Tuesday, Fareed) Muwwakkil, a Los Angeles Sentinel staff photographer, stopped by to share his concern.

“It hurt me to my heart,” Muwwakkil said, standing in the living room of Jones’ home. “Everybody who knows him is hurt. He is so well-liked.”

Even many who do not know Jones may know his work. Aldore Collier, West Coast bureau chief for Ebony and Jet magazines, said Jones’ photos are a staple in the publications, particularly in Jet’s Week’s Best section.

“Sometimes the whole section would be taken up by Bill Jones [photographs],” Collier said. “That is not unusual.”

Jones covered awards shows, movie premieres and other star-studded events for the magazine.

“You never have to worry about him being one minute late,” Collier said. “That’s what stood out to me.”

“He’s everywhere,” said Ron Brewington, Los Angeles bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks. “You go to the award shows, anywhere, there’s Bill Jones right there.”

Brewington said Jones has been a mentor and friend to countless entertainment photographers and reporters. Often Jones has taken younger reporters with him on assignments, helping them establish contacts and the rapport needed for success in the field.

“This man taught many people by example,” he said. “He is well-loved, well-respected by his peers.”

A retired Air Force sergeant, Jones began studying photography--his lifelong dream--after leaving the military and settling in Los Angeles in 1972.

“He just liked to take pictures of people and to let everybody else see them,” Art Jones said.

The walls of the home Bill Jones shares with Reva, his wife of 42 years, are covered with his work. Photographs of his four children and seven grandchildren. Photographs of him with Cher, Winnie Mandela, Lena Horne, Quincy Jones, astronaut Mae Jemison.

“We come a long, long way--two poor little raggedy kids,” Art Jones said. “And you spell poor ‘po,’ ” he laughed.

“He is very oriented to his people,” Jones said. “That’s why he never left” the community.

In spite of the tragedy, the family finds reason for hope. When Reva Jones arrived at the hospital, she said her husband squeezed her hand in response to a question. When she asked if he wanted to go home, he squeezed even tighter. And when Reva asked him to touch her face he raised his left hand three times.

“That’s love,” Art Jones said, his eyes welling with tears.

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The close-knit community of African American entertainment media professionals has drawn together, sharing what they know with each other, organizing to help in whatever way the family deems necessary.

Tuesday night a group planned a candlelight vigil at the hospital “to show the family and the community that his fellow photographers and the community in general support him,” said Sharon Liggins of the DeVeaux Group, a public relations agency.

And someone will pray, Liggins said.

For now, that is just what the family needs, Art Jones said.