A file photo shows a crime scene blocked off by the Chicago Police Department. (WTTW News)

A Chicago man allegedly beat two men to death with a hammer over the course of several days inside the same Gresham home where he was also holding and repeatedly beating his girlfriend, prosecutors said Monday.

Jamie Jones, 31, was ordered held without bond during a hearing Monday following his arrest on two counts of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and domestic battery stemming from the deaths of Aaron Washington and Arronis Jackson, both 51.

“To call this case horrific, gruesome and violent would be an understatement,” Assistant State’s Attorney Danny Hanichak said.

Hanichak said Jones’ alleged series of crimes spanned more than a week, beginning on March 17 inside an apartment in the 8300 block of South Sangamon Street. Jones and his 18-year-old girlfriend had lived there for a time with Washington, but had since been kicked out.

The pair returned to the apartment that day and went inside when no one was home, Hanichak said. When Washington returned a short time later, he entered and greeted Jones, but as he did so, Jones allegedly grabbed a hammer and struck Washington in the head.

Jones then hit the man at least 10 more times in the head and smothered him with a pillow until he was dead, Hanichak said.

Jones’ girlfriend saw Washington’s body on the ground, but Jones ordered her to go into a bedroom. By the time she came out of the room the next morning, Jones had moved the body into a closet and cleaned up the blood, Hanichak said.

After this time, Jones allegedly forced the woman to stay in the bedroom against her will, demanding that she ask for permission to even use the bathroom, Hanichak said.

A day or so after Washington was killed, Jackson came to the house looking for him. Jackson used a key to enter the apartment and began talking to Jones, telling him that Washington owed him money, Hanichak said.

As they walked in the home, Jones allegedly grabbed the hammer again and beat Jackson to death. According to Hanichak, Jones moved Jackson’s body into the same closet where he’d left Washington. He then told the woman he was “too tired” to clean up the blood and ordered her to do it.

Over the course of the next few days, Jones kept the woman in the bedroom and repeatedly assaulted her, Hanichak said, striking her with the hammer and a broom and choking her until she fell unconscious.

Last Friday — which marked “eight days after this horror story began,” according to Hanichak — Jones left the apartment for an extended period, but not before threatening to harm the woman if she attempted to leave.

The woman waited nearly an hour to ensure Jones had really left before she fled to a nearby gas station where she called her uncle. She was taken to the hospital and told authorities where they could find the bodies of Washington and Jackson as well as the hammer Jones allegedly used to kill them.

Police went to the home and found the bodies, and as officers were canvassing the area nearby Saturday, they located Jones and placed him under arrest.

According to Hanichak, surveillance footage recovered by police shows Jones in and around the home throughout the eight-day period, though no footage of the murders exists.

“The defendant’s actions in this case show that he is a brutal and cold-blooded killer who must be held in custody until the disposition of this case,” Hanichak said.

Jones is due back in court April 15.

Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431