Grandmother of dad who killed 5 kids asks to spare his life

Associated Press
Monday, June 10, 2019 12:53 p.m. | Monday, June 10, 2019 12:53 p.m.

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Defense attorney Casey Secor talks with Tim Jones during trial in Lexington, S.C. Timothy Jones, Jr., is accused of killing his five children in 2014. Jones, who faces the death penalty, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

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11th Circuit Solicitor Rick Hubbard shows the jury photographs of Nahtahn Jones with bruises on his neck and arms during the sentencing phase of the trial of Tim Jones in Lexington, S.C. on Friday, June 7, 2019.

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Tim Jones, Sr. awaits the verdict of his son, Timothy Jones Jr., during trial in Lexington, S.C., Tuesday, June 4, 2019, after being found guilty in the deaths of his five children in 2014.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The grandmother of a South Carolina man facing a possible death sentence for killing his five children is asking a jury to spare his life. She says the family has already been through too much.

Roberta Thornsberry testified Monday that along with losing her five great-grandchildren when Timothy Jones Jr. killed them in their Lexington home in 2014, she also has had to deal with untimely deaths of other children and grandchildren.

When defense lawyer Casey Secor asked if Thornsberry thought Jones should die for killing his children, she said “no, God, no.” She said his execution would be the final nail in her family’s coffin.

The same jury that convicted Jones of five counts of murder last week is deciding between death and life in prison without parole.