Missing boy's stepfather faints at candlelight<BR> vigil<P><BR> By Chet Barfield <BR> STAFF WRITER <P> May 5, 2002 <P><BR> A short candlelight prayer service for missing 2-year-old Jahi Turner ended in<BR> chaos last night when the boy's stepfather collapsed as he and extended-family<BR> members left the Balboa Park playground where the child was reported missing.<P> Packed in by dozens of supporters and a throng of TV camera crews, Tieray<BR> Jones, 23, fell to the ground, setting off a frenzied whisking of the family into cars<BR> that sped away.<P> It all happened in seconds, setting off pandemonium, shouting and sobs. In the<BR> confusion, some thought Jones had been hit or pushed by Jahi's biological father<BR> from Maryland, who was close by.<P> Not so, said Bill Garcia, who has been coordinating volunteer search efforts and<BR> helped organize last night's event.<P> "He just passed out. I was right behind him," Garcia said by telephone about 10<BR> minutes afterward. "He hasn't eaten in a couple of days."<P> Jones appeared to be fine by that time, said Garcia, adding, "He's sitting here<BR> talking on a cell phone."<P> The tumult was the latest twist in a case that has captured national attention and<BR> has had talk shows buzzing since April 25, when Jahi was reported missing from<BR> the scene of last night's drama, a small playground at 28th and Cedar streets.<P> The search passed its ninth day yesterday with familiar scenes: police crews<BR> raking through trash at the Miramar landfill and volunteers scouring San Diego<BR> neighborhoods.<P> Joining the hunt yesterday was a psychic from the Los Angeles area, who led a<BR> small group to a spot near the end of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in Point Loma.<BR> Nothing was found there, at the landfill or other search areas.<P> Last night's vigil was intended, in part, as a show of unity between an extended<BR> but divided family whose one common bond is a missing child. Attending<BR> alongside Jahi's parents were two pairs of relatives who flew out Thursday from<BR> Frederick, Md.: Tameka Jones' mother, Penny Turner, and an unidentified sister of<BR> Turner's, and Jahi's biological father, Tramane Sampson, and one of his cousins.<P> Reporters were asked not to ask questions. The only family member to speak was<BR> Turner.<P> "I'd like to thank the volunteers," she said, sobbing uncontrollably. "Please don't<BR> give up. We need him. I need my grandson."<P> The Joneses' last public appearance, a short news conference Tuesday, also<BR> ended in a fiasco with shouts at the stepfather.<P> Tieray Jones told police he left Jahi unattended for 15 minutes at the playground<BR> and returned to find him gone. Police are calling the case an abduction, but since<BR> Tuesday they have been sifting through 5,000 tons of trash that was dumped the<BR> day before the boy was reported missing. Police will not say what they're looking<BR> for in the unprecedented day-and-night search.<P> Confidential sources have told the Union-Tribune that evidence contradicts the<BR> stepfather's story.<P> Yesterday morning, Sampson, 24, visited the playground for the first time. He said<BR> he was here "to help find him and to actually find out what's going on."<P> Detectives also were at the park, looking for possible witnesses. Within moments,<BR> Sampson and his 18-year-old cousin, Chris Dorsey, were driven off for a two-hour<BR> interview with homicide detectives.<P> Sampson said he has known Tieray Jones since their mid-teens. Both grew up in<BR> Frederick's rough tenements, and both have had trouble with the law.<P> In addition to burglary and marijuana arrests, Jones has been questioned in<BR> connection with an unsolved slaying in Maryland. Sampson was released from jail<BR> in January on an assault conviction. He said he had to get a four-day pass from<BR> his probation officer to come to San Diego.<P> Jahi has spent most of his life with aunts, uncles and grandparents on both sides,<BR> most of whom live nearby but harbor much animosity toward each other. Until late<BR> April, he was with his maternal grandmother, Turner.<P> Tameka Jones, 18, was married in December. She is a seaman aboard the San<BR> Diego-based amphibious transport Rushmore. The ship has been in and out of<BR> port on five-day training runs since March, Navy officials said.<P> The Joneses flew to Maryland on April 19 and returned with Jahi to their Golden<BR> Hill apartment. Tameka Jones left port with her ship April 22, three days before the<BR> boy was reported missing.<P> Sampson is hoping his son is still alive. He and his cousin made a brief midday<BR> media appearance at the Golden Hill Moose Lodge, which is serving as<BR> headquarters for the more than 1,000 volunteers who have searched for the child.<P> Sampson read a brief statement thanking the volunteers and appealing for Jahi's<BR> safe return. Afterward, he and his cousin handed out fliers at a downtown trolley<BR> station.<P> Sampson wouldn't say whether he considered his son safe with Tieray Jones, but<BR> he said it's doubtful an abductor could have carried the boy off quietly.<P> "If (a stranger) tried to pick him up, he would have a fit. He would cry," Sampson<BR> said. "He would have to know you to come to you."<P><BR> Chet Barfield: (619) 542-4572; chet.barfield@uniontrib.com