BRONX TEEN SEX SLAVE DIED BY SMOTHERING

Christal Jean Jones, a 16 year old Vermont girl who was found dead in a Bronx brothel and linked with an interstate sex-slave ring, was smothered to death.  Cops originally thought she might have died of a drug overdose after her body was found inside a Zerega Avenue apartment on January 3rd.  She is believed to be one of at least 10 troubled girls lured to the Big Apple with promises of big bucks and big-city excitement, only to find themselves thrust into a world of squalor, prostitution and violence.  A suspected pimp, Jose Ritchie Rodriguez who goes by the name Romeo, was busted in the Bronx apartment on charges of prostitution promotion and statutory rape weeks before Jones died.  His lawyer maintains his client's innocence.