Rapes, voodoo ritual in killer dad's chaotic upbringing
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The mother of five children who were killed by their father stunned a South Carolina courtroom on Tuesday by asking the jury to spare her ex-husband's life.
Permission for social worker Deborah Grey's testimony during the sentencing phase of Jones' trial was fiercely disputed. Prosecutors earlier persuaded the judge not to let her testify before a jury convicted Jones of five counts of murder for the killings in his Lexington home in August 2014.Grey testified Tuesday only after hours of argument over what she could and could not say. During the sentencing phase, the defense has wider latitude to try to show what might have led to the crime.
The chaos extended to Jones' parents. His mother had schizophrenia and went into a mental institution when Jones was 3. She spent decades there. Griffith frequently told Grey"move along" or"keep moving" when she tried to go into details about Jones' family. Tuesday marked the fourth week of testimony in Jones' trial.
Several hours later, Jones said he decided to kill the other children, strangling 8-year-old Merah and 7-year-old Elias with his hands and using a belt to choke 2-year-old Gabriel and 1-year-old Abigail because his hands were too big.
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