Jury begins deliberations in Timothy Jones Jr. murder trial

Jones was charged with the murders of his five children back in 2014

LEXINGTON, S.C. (WOLO) — The ball is in the jury’s court to determine if Timothy Jones Jr. is guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of his five children back in August 2014. 

Both sides delivered closing statements that each went over an hour Monday afternoon, painting two different pictures of Timothy Jones Jr. and what went through his mind the night of the murders.

Last week, Dr. Julie Rand-Dorney, a forensic psychiatrist, told the jury Timothy Jones Jr. told her he would rather his children be in heaven than to grow up without a mother like he did.

“Does it make sense? No. He’s crazy. You can’t rationalize crazy,” said Boyd Young, Jones’s chief defense attorney, in his closing statement.

Throughout the last three weeks, Young and his defense team brought up mental health professionals to convince the jury Jones was not in control of his actions the night of his murder.

In his closing statement, Young pointed to genetics, a car accident when Jones was 15, and how Jones liked to smoke synthetic marijuana as reasons he went into a psychosis.

“If you look at the whole forest, not just a couple of trees, this is a forest of insanity,” Young told the jury.

However, the prosecution says Jones was not living in a forest of insanity.

In his closing statement, Solicitor Rick Hubbard said the only forest Jones cared about was the one in Alabama where he left his children’s bodies.

“There’s no schizophrenia. There’s no schizoaffective disorder. When he picked up his phone and chose not to call 9-1-1, he told every one of y’all, ‘I know what the law is,” Hubbard said.

When wrapping up his statement, Hubbard says he wants the jury to remember who he and his team have been fighting for.

“Today, I’m speaking for five little babies. They didn’t deserve this. They deserve justice,” Hubbard said.

The jury have four options to pick from for a verdict. They could find Jones guilty, guilty but mentally ill, not guilty by reason of insanity, or not guilty.

Jurors deliberated for nearly 90 minutes Monday evening, but decided to go home for the night. They will continue their discussions Tuesday morning.