Timothy Jones’s grandmother takes stand in Day Nine of murder trial

Roberta Thornsberry testifies she would have taken children away if she knew they were in danger

LEXINGTON, S.C. (WOLO) — Timothy Jones’s grandmother took the stand in Day Nine of her grandson’s murder trial, saying she never expected him to kill his five children back in 2014.

At various times throughout her testimony, Roberta Thornsberry got emotional when looking back at the lives of her five children, even saying she would have taken the kids away from Jones if she knew they were in danger.

When Timothy Jones Jr. was born in 1981, his grandmother testifies her son was not in good hands when living with his mother.

“She was nutty. She would bathe him in cold water, she’d give him laxatives to cleanse his body, she wouldn’t feed him because she didn’t want a fat baby,” Thornsberry said.

After his mom was institutionalized, Jones split time between living with his father and grandmother. 

When he was 15, the defense says Jones suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident. They argue it set the wheels in motion for his psychological downfall.

“It may affect his social-emotional functioning, it may affect their ability to regulate mood, there may be highs and lows,” said Erin David Bigler, a former psychology professor at Brigham Young University.

However, Thornsberry testifies she didn’t believe Jones was permanently affected by the accident, thinking his personality changes were just part of his teenage development.

“Tim did a lot of silly things, but it was always like he was getting older, he was growing up,” Thornsberry said.

Once Jones became a father, Thornsberry says he would read them the Bible every night and take them her on occasion.

She says the last time she saw the children was during a short vacation to Atlanta just weeks before the murders. Thornsberry offered to take the youngest two children home with her, but Jones told her he couldn’t be without them.

“I would have done whatever, called the police or whatever, I would never let him touch those kids if I thought they were in danger. Now there are five little angels up there,” Thornsberry said.

In addition to Thornsberry and Bigler, Brian Travis of the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department testified about a map and displays of credit card transactions and internet searches Jones did in the days following the murders.

There will be no testimony Monday due to Memorial Day. The defense plans to call more witnesses to the stand next week, starting Tuesday at 9 a.m.