Fort Worth Man Gets Life in Prison After Changing Plea to Guilty Midway Through Girlfriend's Murder Trial
FORT WORTH, Texas - A Fort Worth man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday after changing his plea to guilty midway through his murder trial in the 2025 shooting death of his live-in girlfriend, 28-year-old Ariel Bryce Levy.
The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office announced Sept. 30 that Dylan McLean Jones, 32, initially pleaded not guilty to murder but changed his plea during the trial. The court then sentenced him to life in prison.
Jones shot and killed Levy on March 10, 2025, inside the couple's apartment on Ipswich Avenue in far north Fort Worth, near Haslet.
The investigation began that afternoon when Fort Worth police were asked to conduct a welfare check on Levy after Jones reportedly told an acquaintance that he had "blacked out" and believed he had harmed her. Officers initially were unable to make contact at the apartment.
Later that evening, police received another call after Jones arrived at a home on Stockton Drive. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, witnesses told officers Jones said he had killed his girlfriend. One witness reported seeing what appeared to be dried blood under his fingernails.
As officers spoke with witnesses, Jones was spotted driving Levy's black SUV. Police attempted to stop him, but he fled, beginning a pursuit that lasted about 40 minutes.
According to the arrest affidavit, Jones drove as fast as 90 mph, ran red lights and stop signs, traveled on the wrong side of the road and used freeway shoulders to pass other vehicles. More than 20 marked police vehicles were involved in the pursuit.
While the pursuit was underway, other officers returned to the Ipswich Avenue apartment and found Levy dead in a bedroom with a gunshot wound. Investigators recovered a shell casing near her body that police said was consistent with the caliber of a handgun found with Jones when he was arrested.
The pursuit ended in Hurst after police deployed spike strips to stop his vehicle. Jones crashed near Grapevine Highway and was taken into custody.
The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office said prosecutors Chase Payne and Riley Reynolds handled the murder case with assistance from Madison Wright. DA investigator Victor Espino-Nevarez also assisted in the prosecution.
