Photo: Marion County Sheriff’s Office
A jury is pondering a possible death sentence for a Florida man who pleaded guilty tobrutally murdering his wife and their four young childrenand driving around with their bodies in the back of his van for several weeks.
Michael Wayne Jones, 41, admitted to beating his wife to death with a baseball bat in 2019. After she was dead, he said that he murdered her four small children over the next few days. He stored their bodies in tote bags and drove them around in the back of his van.
Casei Jones.
After killing his wife, he killed his two stepsons, Cameron Bowers, 10, and Preston Bowers, 5. Police say that he strangled Cameron before choking Preston with a zip tie and drowning him in the bathtub. He put both boys' bodies in suitcases.
Later, he drowned his two daughters – Mercalli Jones, 2, and Aiyana Jones, 1 – in a bathtub and put their bodies in a duffel bag, he admitted.
Jones drove the bodies around in the back of his van until he got into a single-car accident on September 15, 2009 — approximately two months after the killing spree began. The responding officer detected the smell of decomposition and searched the vehicle, finding his wife’s body.
Jones then took authorities to a wooded area where he had dumped the four children’s bodies.
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Michael W. Jones Jr.Brantley County Sheriff’s Office
The penalty portion of Jones' trial will continue through the week.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
