30 September 2019 :

A Lexington County jury sentenced Tim Jones, 37, White, to death for killing his 5 children on Aug. 29, 2014. In a confession, Jones said he strangled 7-year-old Elias with his hands and chased down 8-year-old Merah before choking her. He then used a belt to choke 2-year-old Gabriel and 1-year-old Abigail because he said his hands were too big. He was arrested in Alabama after dumping their bodies in black garbage bags in a field in Alabama. Defense lawyers presented days of testimony portraying Jones and his family as a stew of malignant dysfunctions, for generations rife with incest, madness, suicides, crime, domestic violence, religious fanaticism and alcohol and drug abuse. With that background, and his family genes, he was doomed to go mad and therefore was not responsible for his actions, defense lawyers said. Judge Eugene Griffith upheld the jury’s recommendation.