3 Girls Safe After 4 in Family Slain

A manhunt across the Southeast ended late Thursday when a tip led authorities to a jealous ex-husband who allegedly killed three former in-laws and his infant daughter, then fled with three girls.

The girls were found safe, and the suspect shot himself in the face after a police chase on Interstate 75 near the Tennessee state line. Authorities said he was hospitalized in critical condition.

Jerry William Jones, 31, is accused of shooting the former in-laws to death and strangling his infant daughter Wednesday before fleeing with the girls in a stolen sport utility vehicle. Two of the girls are his daughters, and the other is a former stepdaughter.

Jones has a long criminal history, including convictions for burglary and auto theft.

Jones called his former wife, Melissa Peeler, late Wednesday and told her of the killings, adding that he would “start killing the kids one by one” if she alerted authorities, according to Peeler’s brother-in-law, David O’Donnell.

The girls are Peeler and Jones’ children -- Brandy Jones, 4, and Tammy Jones, 3 -- and Peeler’s daughter from a previous relationship, Brittany Phelps, 10. Officials say Peeler and Jones were never legally married but had a common-law marriage.

Peeler had left the children with her parents and sister before leaving for Oregon to visit her boyfriend over the Christmas holidays. She notified police after getting the phone call from Jones.

Peeler’s parents, Tom and Nola Blaylock, were found shot to death in one house.

In another house, authorities found Jones’ former sister-in-law, Georgia Bradley, shot to death, while Jones’ 10-month-old daughter by Peeler, Harley, was apparently strangled.

The homes are down the street from each other in this rural Georgia town 55 miles north of Atlanta.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said the crime scenes indicated that the killer was “very methodical. This wasn’t quick. He clearly took his time,” he said.

Authorities said the motive appeared to be jealousy over his former wife visiting her new boyfriend.

O’Donnell said that Jones was constantly threatening violence, and that Peeler had been trying to get away.

“He says all the time [that] he’ll kill you, he’ll kill me or whoever,” O’Donnell said. “He’s an idiot -- just a crazy person.”

Jones’ mother and stepfather were killed in the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Florida Everglades, and O’Donnell said Jones got a substantial settlement.

“He blew the money almost as fast as he got it, mostly on drugs,” O’Donnell said.

“We’ve had him in our jail, and we’re fixing to put him back in our jail,” said Sheriff Jerry Davis.