A South Carolina father has been found guilty of murdering his five children and driving with their decaying bodies around in his car for nine days.
A jury found Timothy Jones Jr, 37, guilty on all five counts of murder on Tuesday following a four-week death penalty murder trial.
He was found guilty on five counts of murder for killing his children Merah, 8; Elias, 7; Nahtahn, 6; Gabriel, 2; and Elaine Marie, 1 in their mobile home in Lexington on August 28, 2014.
As his guilty sentence was read out Jones showed little emotion, occasionally pursing his lips.
Jones faces the death penalty and his sentencing will begin on Thursday at 8.45am. As the state is seeking the death penalty, the jury is responsible for determining his punishment.
South Carolina father Timothy Jones Jr, 37, has been found guilty by a jury of murdering his five children and driving their bodies around for a week in August 2014. Jones pictured center on Tuesday as the guilty verdict was read out at Lexington County court
As his guilty sentence was read out Jones showed little emotion, occasionally pursing his lips
He showed a brief moment of emotion during closing statements in his murder trial at the Lexington County Courthouse on Wednesday May 22, wiping his eyes
Jones was found guilty of five counts of murder for the deaths of eight-year-old Merah (bottom right), seven-year-old Elias (bottom left), six-year-old Nahtahn (top center), two-year-old Gabriel (top right) and one-year-old Abigail (top left)
The jury had four options for their verdict: guilty, guilty but mentally ill, not guilty by reason of insanity, or not guilty. Jones had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
He confessed to the murders after his arrest – but his defense team argues he suffers from schizophrenia and the voices in his head ordered him to carry out the killings.
His trial began on May 14, 2019 in which babysitters, doctors, officers who arrested Jones, his parents and the heartbroken mother of his children Amber Kyzer testified.
On May 20 Kyzer sobbed before the court as she spoke of her murdered children.
‘Oh god. Oh god. My babies. My babies,’ she said at one point before breaking down in tears.
Closing arguments began on Monday June 3 with 11th Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard III stating, ‘Tim Jones may love his family, but there’s someone he loves more, Tim Jones.’
The Lexington County jury considered the case for about six hours over two days before returning the five guilty verdicts for murder on Tuesday.
Jones was indicted for killing his children by ‘means of strangulation and/or other violent means or instruments’.
Jones’ father Timothy Jones, Sr. pictured above listening to closing arguments during the murder trial on Monday
The Lexington County jury considered the case for about six hours over two days before returning the five guilty verdicts for murder on Tuesday. The prosecution pictured above during Monday’s closing arguments showing a picture of six-year-old Nahtahn
Amber Kyzer (center), the mother of the five young children, broke down during her testimony last week where she wailed, ‘Oh god. My babies. My babies’
In Kyzer’s testimony she cried as she told the prosecutor the full name and dates of birth for all five of her children. Jones had physical custody of the kids at the time of their deaths
Prosecutors said that Jones, an Intel computer engineer who was a devout Christian and had physical custody of the kids, snapped at his six-year-old son Nahtahn for breaking an electrical outlet in the home, and in his rampage strangled his kids in August 2014.
He first killed Nahtahn in a rage making him do hours of exercise until he died. Then strangled eight-year-old Merah and seven-year-old Elias with his hands and two-year-old Gabriel and one-year-old Abigail with a belt, prosecutors said.
Both sisters’ last words to their father were ‘I love you’, according to Jones’ video-taped confession to police that was played in court earlier in the trial.
Jones then allegedly searched the internet for countries that don’t extradite suspects back to the U.S. and took his passport. He also researched how to disintegrate bodies faster.
After killing the children, authorities said Jones wrapped their bodies in plastic and put them in his SUV, driving aimlessly around the Southeast US for most of nine days before leaving their bodies on a hilltop in Camden, Alabama.
Jones was arrested at a Smith County, Mississippi, traffic checkpoint, where an officer testified he recognized a strong odor coming from the car he recognized as ‘the smell of death’.
Prosecutors said he killed Nahtahn in a rage after finding the boy had broken an outlet in their home near Lexington in August 2014. Jones (left and right in 2014) then strangled Mera and Elias with his hands and Gabriel and Abigail with a belt, prosecutors said
After killing the children at their home (pictured), authorities said Jones wrapped their bodies in plastic and put them in his SUV, driving aimlessly around the Southeast US for most of nine days
Jones eventually left the children’s bodies on a hilltop (pictured) in Camden, Alabama
Jones was a devoutly religious person who spent time in jail in the early 2000s on a drug charge.
He believed he was doing the right thing before God in violently spanking his children and his marriage disintegrated as he became more religious and believed women she remain at home and out of sight.
Jones had full custody of his children at the time of his death. He and children’s mother Kyzer got married, but divorced after he became rigid in his religion and became demanding with her.
‘Women are to be seen and not heard. I was merely to take care of the children. To keep them out of his way,’ Kyzer said.
After they divorced, Kyzer couldn’t afford a lawyer, so she agreed to joint custody with Jones having physical custody of the five children.
Jones also had a job that paid $80,000 as an Intel computer engineer, and a car.
Kyzer would get a ride to the Chick-fil-A in Lexington to see them every Saturday under Jones’ watchful gaze.
He called her on the day of his murderous rampage. In court she recounted how she heard her son Nahtahn crying on the phone.
‘Mom, I didn’t mean to,’ Nahtahn told her just moments before Jones said in the background: ‘You could have killed yourself son.’
Kyzer testified that Jones sounded outraged and Nahtahn was dry heaving.
Jones then asked her why she was always defending the kids and when she responded he told her to ‘shut the f**k up’ and hung up the phone.
That was the last time she ever heard her son’s voice.
Jones’ grandmother, Roberta Thornsberry (left and right), took the stand as a witness for the defense and talked about his traumatic childhood as the son of a schizophrenic mother
Chrystal Ballentine testified she started babysitting for Jones just after turning 17 and quickly became his live-in girlfriend. She claimed she could hear him beat his children through the walls of their home
Also taking the stand was Joy Lorick, a former babysitter for the family who went on trips with them to Disney World and Myrtle Beach. Lorick said she saw Jones spank his kids on the trip
Jones’ live-in girlfriend Chrystal Ballentine also testified saying that she could hear him beat his children through the walls of their home. Joy Lorick, a former babysitter for the family who went on trips with them to Disney World and Myrtle Beach said she saw Jones spank his kids on the trip as well.
Prosecutors and the defense will present their evidence on Thursday – likely to portray Jones as a selfish, evil father.
Prosecutors had called the pathologist who did autopsies on the children to the stand in the trial, but refused to show pictures of the bodies.
Defense attorneys wanted them shown because it might aid in Jones’ insanity defense to show how badly decomposed the bodies were in the back of the SUV, but Circuit Judge Eugene Griffith refused.
The defense told the jury that Jones is schizophrenic and had not been diagnosed at the time of his death. His attorney said Jones’ mother was institutionalized for 20 years for schizophrenia.
Jones’ grandmother, Roberta Thornsberry took the stand as a witness in the trial for the defense and talked about his traumatic childhood as the son of a schizophrenic mother.