Suvechha Sarkar
Jon Michael Hickey was a compassionate Firefighter who lived in Baltimore, Maryland. However, the promising life of the 31-year-old came to a sudden end when he was found dead from a gunshot wound in his home in November 2017. It was followed by an intensive investigation that soon revealed major leads, bringing authorities closer to the truth. NBC’s ‘Dateline: The Killer on Camera 4’ explores the details of the case and the surveillance footage that helped identify the killer. The episode also features several interviews with Jon’s loved ones, officials, and other individuals closely related to the case.
Jon Hickey Pursued His Passion for Firefighting While Building a Diverse Career
Born on May 24, 1986, Jon Michael Hickey brought tremendous joy to the lives of his parents, Jon Sr. and Kimberly Hickey. He grew up in a household in Catonsville, Maryland, surrounded by his parents’ abundant affection and support. His loved ones described him as someone who always helped others in times of need. After graduating from high school, Jon studied at the Community College of Baltimore County from 2003 to 2004. Following that, he earned a degree in Fire Protection Engineering/Architecture at the University of Maryland in 2007. Jon began his career in January 2003 as a Field Supervisor at Baltimore County, a role he held until January 2006. Simultaneously, he worked as a Sales Team Lead at Best Buy from March 2003 to July 2005.
While working in that position, Jon joined Toyota Motor Corporation as a Toyota Technician in January 2004 and served there until January 2007. Besides that, he had always been inspired by his grandfather, who was a firefighter. It eventually led him to begin working as a Volunteer Firefighter/EMT for the Woodlawn Fire Department in 2005. Additionally, Jon also volunteered as a firefighter with the departments of Lansdowne, Reisterstown, and Owings Mills. While working as a Sales Supervisor at Merchants Tire and Auto Centers from January 2010 to 2013, he also served as an EMT at Butler Medical Transport from January 2012. Jon served in the position until September 2014, before joining Erickson Living as an EMT three months later.
Jon Hickey Was Found Dead From a Gunshot Wound on His Apartment Couch
Jon left Erickson Living in October 2016, and he further explored his interest in photography at the same time. In 2012, he began pursuing a degree in Fine Art Photography from the New York Institute of Photography. It paved the path for him to establish his photography venture, Jon Hickey Photography, in January 2013. There, he worked as a Commercial Photographer. By November 2017, Jon had ultimately fulfilled his lifelong goal of becoming a firefighter when he got accepted to the Baltimore City Fire Department Academy. He also moved to Baltimore about 3 months before that. He was scheduled to begin his service with the Fire Department on December 27, 2017. In his personal life, Jon met Jennifer McKay in October 2017. Their relationship soon blossomed into something more, and they officially began dating in November.
On November 30, 2017, Jennifer called 911 to request a welfare check on Jon because she hadn’t heard from him for about 2 days. She informed them that she had texted and called him but received no response. What alarmed her was that she noticed Jon’s vehicle hadn’t moved from its parking spot during that time. When detectives arrived at Jon’s apartment on the 1800 block of East Pratt Street in Upper Fells Point, Baltimore, they found him dead on the living room sofa from a single gunshot wound to the forehead. It appeared that he was sleeping on the couch when he was killed. Investigators noted that there were no signs of struggle in Jon’s ground-floor apartment and found no murder weapon. The autopsy reportedly determined his cause of death to be a fatal gunshot wound to the head and the manner of death to be a homicide.
Surveillance Footage and Digital Clues Helped Officials Arrest the Killer
At the initial stage of the investigation, detectives came across surveillance footage from a camera in the adjacent building to Jon’s apartment. It reportedly captured the footage of the alley around the apartment and showed a man breaking into Jon’s home through a window in the early morning hours of November 29, 2017. According to court records, the CCTV footage further captured the man leaving through the back door of the apartment with a gun in his hand. After checking the footage, authorities believed that Jon was killed sometime between 2:22 am and 2:39 am on November 29. Police records indicate that when the CCTV footage and still images were shown to Jennifer, she said the man in the video looked like her former boyfriend, Daniel Joseph Greene.
According to investigative reports, officials discovered that Jennifer was in an on-again and off-again relationship with Daniel from 2012 to 2017. It turned out that during that time, he was already married to another woman, Jennifer “Jenn” Greene, and had two children. Jennifer reportedly broke up with Daniel in 2017, before she began dating Jon. Reports state that when questioned, Daniel claimed he was sleeping at his home with his wife. However, the alibi was soon discredited when Jenn came forward to say it was not true. A search warrant then led to the discovery of Jenn’s laptop, where digital forensic experts found evidence of Jennifer and Daniel’s relationship. It further revealed that Daniel had searched for Jon and his relationship with Jennifer on Facebook, as per the records.
Daniel had also reportedly looked up Jon’s address online before the home invasion. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that Jon was the victim of stalking in the week leading up to his death. Jon faced several strange incidents. According to court records and testimonies, he received multiple unusual texts and calls, his beloved dog suddenly passed away, and his car had been vandalized. Investigators believed these incidents were connected to Greene. Ultimately, based on circumstantial evidence, Daniel was arrested on December 5, 2017, and charged with the first-degree murder of Jon. He was later also charged with home invasion and other firearm charges. His jury trial began on June 15, 2023, and he was ultimately found guilty of all charges. On February 15, 2024, Daniel was sentenced to life in prison for murder and an additional 20 years in prison for the other charges.
