A jury on Thursday sentenced a 37-year-old man to death for strangling four of his children and forcing his 6-year-old child to exercise until he died.
The jury heard that Timothy Jones (Jr) killed Merah, 8; Elias, 7; Gabriel, 2; and Elaine, 1; and the 6-year-old Nahtahn.
The children were killed as punishment for breaking an electrical outlet in August 2014 in Lexington, South Carolina, US.
Mr Jones was convicted of murdering his children on June 4 after pleading guilty by means of insanity.
Investigators said that Jones believed the children were going to ‘kill him, chop him up and feed him to the dogs.’
The convict’s family history, witnesses said, has been plagued with rapes, molestation by relatives, violence, drugs, voodoo rituals, prostitution, and fights.
During the sentencing portion of his trial, the jury heard from defense lawyers and witnesses attempting to assert that Jones was just a victim of mental illness who snapped.
Both Jones’ lawyers and his ex-wife, Amber Jones, claimed the killings happened because the convict was high on synthetic weed.
