A mum whose five children were killed by their father, her husband left a courtroom stunned when she asked for him NOT to be executed.
Her husband Timothy Jones, 37, is said to have accidentally killed one of his sons by making him do an excessive number of push-ups and squats for an hour before strangling the other four, a court in South Carolina, USA, heard
The woman identified as Amber Kyzer broke down in tears when she was called to testify at the trial of ex-husband Timothy Jones Jr for the murder of her children. She said she wished mercy on him despite hearing horrific details of how he killed the youngsters in August 2014.
According to reports, after he killed the children, he then drove them across several American states for nine days before dumping their bagged bodies off a dirt road.
Jones, 37, who was found guilty last week, claimed an angry gremlin voice in his head told him to murder Abigail, one, Gabriel, two, Nahtahn, six, Elias, seven and Merah, eight, at their home in South Carolina, US.
The jury is considering whether Jones should be executed or jailed for life. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Amber told the courtroom: “I hear what my kids went through and endured and, as a mother, if I could personally rip his face off, I would.
“That’s the momma bear in me, wanting him to feel everything they felt. I don’t personally feel I have the right to put anyone’s life in my hands,” The mom in me says, ‘Fry him, absolutely.’ But I’m a strong believer in no death penalty.
“He did not show my children any mercy by any means. But my kids loved him and if I’m speaking on behalf of my kids and not myself, that’s what I have to say.”
She added: “I pray for you often, and I say that without excusing what he’s done.
“I say that wholeheartedly from the depths of my soul. There’s been so much loss.”
Asked by defense attorney Boyd Young whether she wanted mercy, she responded: “I do. I don’t say it lightly. He did not show my children mercy by any means, but my children loved him.”
She then looked straight at Jones, a former Intel computer engineer, and said, “Nothing justifies what you’ve done. There’s nothing you could possibly say to justify what you’ve done to my babies.”
At an earlier hearing being described as one of the most horrific murder cases in the state’s history, Amber collapsed screaming as devastating details emerged. The judge at at Lexington County Court halted the case as the distraught mum screamed and cried before being helped from the floor as the jury asked to leave the room, reports The Post and Courier.
“She shouted: “My babies, my babies. Oh God, I’m so sorry.”
“I miss my babies, I want my babies. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.
“They are my babies, they should still be here.”
The previous trial had revealed that Jones received custody of the five children after the couple divorced and Amber at the time thought it was the best decision as she didn’t have a job or a car, he was the better provider.
Jones pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, said in a police recording previously played to jurors that he accidentally killed Nahtahn by making him do an excessive number of push-ups and squats for an hour. He then deliberately strangled the others.
He used a belt to choke the youngest two because his hands were too big, according to prosecutors.
An earlier hearing also heard that the last words Merah said to her father before he killed her were: “Daddy, I love you,” authorities claim.
Merah was said to have witnessed the cold-blooded killing of her younger brother Elias.
“Testifying during the trial in Lexington County, which began May 14, US media reports FBI Agent David Mackey said: “Next he goes to his daughter, Merah Gracie and he kills her in the same manner.
“According to Mr Jones, before he strangled her, Merah said, ‘Daddy, I love you.”
After writing down a whole range of chilling plans to kill his kids, the murderer finally buried the bodies on a rural hillside near Camden, Alabama.
The court heard Jones was arrested at a drink-driving checkpoint in Smith County, Mississippi, on September 6, 2014 after police smelled a terrible odour they described as the “smell of death”.
During a search of the Cadillac Escalade car, police found a bucket of chemicals, blood, maggots and children’s clothes.
Jones was recorded saying: “A voice says, ‘Why don’t you burn the bodies?’ Another voice says, ‘Why don’t you cut them up and feed them to hogs?’ Another said, ‘Why don’t you put them in concrete?’”, Fox News reports .
