Angela Barker-Jones

Angela Marie Barker-Jones (July 29, 1969 – July 31, 2018) was a Cherokee jurist who served as a justice on the Cherokee Nation supreme court. She was the second woman to hold this position in the court's history.

Biography Barker-Jones was born on July 29, 1969, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Her mother, Dianne Barker-Harrold, was an attorney, and her husband, Stephen, led dental programs within the Cherokee Nation health system. She graduated from Tahlequah High School in 1987 and received a B.S. in criminal justice from Northeastern State University in 1991, where Barker-Jones graduated summa cum laude. She later became a public defender in Cherokee and Adair counties, where she focused on ensuring fair legal representation for all clients, particularly juveniles.

Barker-Jones was married to Stephen Jones, with whom she had three children. She and her husband owned and operated The Grill, a restaurant in Tahlequah. She served on the Tahlequah Main Street Association board and provided pro bono legal services to local organizations. Barker-Jones died on July 31, 2018, at the age of 49, after a cancer diagnosis.