Father booked into S.C. jail for murder charges; 5 children identified

A South Carolina father is suspected of killing his five small children about one week before they were reported missing.

Timothy Ray Jones, 32, was arrested Saturday in Mississippi and has been booked into a jail in Lexington County, S.C., on suspicion of murdering his children, ages 1 to 8.

Jones was extradited to South Carolina Thursday afternoon, two days after he led officers to a secluded clearing in Alabama, where the bodies of the children were discovered.

He is expected to make his first appearance in court Friday morning.

Warrants show that Jones will face five murder charges and allege that he “willfully and maliciously” killed the children in his Lexington home, wrapping each of their bodies in a plastic trash bag before dumping them off Highway 10 near Camden, Ala.

Authorities say he drove through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi for days in his black 2006 Cadillac Escalade, traveling more than 700 miles before leaving the bodies at the top of a dirt road off an Alabama highway.

He was arrested at a DUI checkpoint in Mississippi after officers observed him behaving strangely, and noticed a strong chemical smell coming from the car. They found blood, cleaning products, and children’s clothes in the car, according to Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty, but no sign of the children.

Law enforcement officials now believe Jones killed his children about a week before their mother, who is divorced from Jones, reported them missing on Sept. 3, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Dept. said in a statement. The mother had become worried when Jones, who had primary custody, didn’t drop them off for visitation and their school reported that the children had missed class.

Preliminary autopsy results confirmed that the five little bodies belonged to Jones’ children, 8-year-old Merah Gracie Jones; Elias Jones, 7; Nahtahn, 6; Gabriel, 2; and Abigail Elizabeth Jones, 1 year old. Lexington County Coroner Earl Wells ruled each of the deaths a homicide, according to a statement.

Public records show that Jones, described by family as a “loving father,” had a troubled young adulthood and was frequently visited by child welfare authorities.

Social services case files and court records from Jones’ teenage years provide a snapshot of his history as a convicted felon and his life with his kids before their deaths.

Court records from Illinois, where Jones reportedly grew up, show that he was 19 when he was arrested for cocaine possession in March 2001, said Michael Combs, chief of the criminal division for the McHenry County, Ill., state attorney’s office.

He was arrested Sept. 15, 2001, on suspicion of stealing a car. According to court records, he had stolen a minivan and broken into another car.

He had also forged multiple checks in his father’s name, writing one for $3.72 to a Walgreens, and another for $15 at a pizza restaurant, Combs said.

Jones was sentenced in 2002 to consecutive terms of five and six years for the forgery and car theft, respectively, with an additional year in the drug possession case.

According to records obtained by the Associated Press, Jones served nine months at the Big Muddy Correctional Center in Illinois between 2002 and 2003, but it is unclear whether he served additional time.

Jones’ father, Timothy Jones Sr., made a brief statement outside his Amory, Miss., home Wednesday, calling his son a “very loving father,” the Associated Press reported.

“People will come to their own conclusions, and as parents we can understand that decision based on the circumstances,” he said. “We do not have all the answers, and we may never have them, but anyone who knows Little Tim will agree that he is not the animal he will be portrayed as through the media.”

The elder Jones confirmed to the Associated Press on Thursday that his son had grown up in the suburbs of Chicago and had a criminal record in Illinois, saying he was a “typical teenager doing stupid stuff.”

Jones also told the AP that his son was an excellent student and later decided to join the Navy, but was discharged early.

Social services records released by South Carolina officials showed an open child abuse investigation launched just weeks before the five children, ages 1 to 8, disappeared.

According to the records, a complaint was filed Aug. 7 alleging that Jones beat one of his sons, “often leaving bruising” and didn’t feed his children enough. Jones denied the claims and told a caseworker who visited that he believed they were the work of a disgruntled babysitter who had recently been fired.

Social workers noted that Jones “appears to be overwhelmed” and was “unable to maintain the home” as a single father of five.

One of his sons, who had a bandage on his eye, reported that his sister had accidentally hit him in the face with a door knob when she opened the door at a babysitter’s house, the documents said. The sister and babysitter confirmed this in interviews with social services officials.

Investigators noted no signs of physical abuse, but were supposed to follow up with Jones within 45 days.

The children’s parents had been investigated in two other cases by social services caseworkers, who often found the family’s home in disarray, with tools and other dangerous objects within reach of the children.

Between September 2011 and October 2012, caseworkers with the South Carolina Department of Social Services visited the Jones family home 14 times, records show, after a complaint was filed alleging that the home was messy, the children were not attending school and that they often appeared dirty.

At the time, Jones and his wife had just moved from Mississippi because of Jones’ job transfer and were living together with their three children, with a baby boy on the way. Their only support system were neighbors and friends from church, the agency reported.

Upon further investigation, officials confirmed that the children were not old enough to attend school but found the family home in disarray, according to the documents.

On multiple visits, caseworkers noted piles of belongings and clothing cluttering hallways and floors, open air vents and construction tools strewn about within reach of the kids. During one visit, there was so much clutter in one room that the caseworker could not enter.

Agency officials did not note any signs of physical abuse during any of the visits, according to the case file.

The agency continued to follow up with the family, sometimes showing up unannounced.

During one home visit Oct. 28, 2011, Jones reportedly became “hostile” with a caseworker on the phone and said she was “ruining people’s lives.” Officials returned to the home three days later and found it to be “very very clean,” with nearly all of the caseworker’s instructions heeded.

Jones and his wife continued to be investigated for neglect for nearly a year after that, as their marriage soured.

By April 24, 2012, the couple had separated, and Jones had moved out.

On May 29, Jones’ wife referred to a domestic violence incident, which she said she had reported to authorities, but the social worker did not specify who had attacked her.

On June 18, the children’s mother told a social worker that Jones had taken the children out of South Carolina. The caseworker recommended she follow up with a local shelter in response to “domestic violence with her estranged husband.”

Social services officials then reached out to Mississippi’s Department of Family Services in attempts to reach Jones and the children, who were reportedly with Jones’ parents.

The case was closed Oct. 16, 2012.

Social services didn’t interact with the family again until May of this year, when allegations that Jones was physically abusing his children prompted an investigation.

During one visit, Jones told a social worker that his wife had “walked out on him” for a younger man and that she hadn’t seen the children in four months.

A social worker noted on another visit “an excessive amount of religious things” in his home.

The abuse allegations were later determined to be “unfounded,” and the case was closed in July.

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