A Florida man was sentenced to death Friday after killing his wife with a bat and then strangling their four children.
Ocala County Judge Anthony Tatti formalized Michael Jones’s sentence in a brief hearing after a jury recommended the death penalty at the trial that began in January.
Despite the judge’s ruling, one of Jones’ lawyers announced that he plans to appeal the sentence, the Ocala Star Banner reported.
In the disturbing event that occurred in 2019, Jones’ wife, Casei Jones, accused him of cheating on her after going through her phone, causing the subject to start assaulting her.
However, Jones told police that his wife raised a bat during the fight that ended up killing her outright.
The subject wrapped his wife’s body in blankets, placed it in a tote bag, and placed it in a closet.
Jones later strangled to death her two stepsons, Preston Bowers, 4, and Cameron Bowers, 8, and drowned her own children, Mercalli Jones, 2, and Alyana Jones, 11 months, whose bodies were found by the police days later
Jones was finally taken into custody in 2019 after crashing his vehicle in an isolated accident. An officer picked up the strong odor in Jones’ car, and found the body of his wife in the back of his vehicle.
Jones then led authorities to a nearby wooded area, where he buried the bodies of the four children.
Upon trial, Jones pleaded guilty in November of last year. Lawyers singled out his client’s dysfunctional childhood to push for a life sentence, not the death penalty.
Lawyers had argued that Jones was sexually abused by his father, in addition to being beaten by his stepfather. They also said that he would have heard voices that told him to commit the criminal acts.
However, a jury rejected the defense arguments, so they proceeded to recommend the death penalty.
With information from the New York Post
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