Michael Jones faces death penalty
OCALA, Fla. – A man who pleaded guilty to killing his wife and her four children in 2019 in Marion County is scheduled to be sentenced Friday.
A Marion County judge will sentence Michael Jones, 41, who faces the death penalty. His lawyers have filed a motion asking the judge to remove the jury’s death penalty recommendation for life in prison without parole.
Jones pleaded guilty to killing his wife, Casei Jones, and her four children, ages 2 to 10 years old.
Marion County investigators called the case “gruesome and senseless.”
“We can’t make sense of something so senseless. This is just an enormous tragedy, and I can’t understand,” Marion County sheriff’s Lt. Paul Bloom said.
According to investigators, the victims were reported missing by relatives in September 2019 and were not seen for six weeks.
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Jones was later found in Georgia with his wife’s body in his car after he get into a crash.
Investigators said he beat her to death with a baseball bat, with Jones claiming that she was being unfaithful to him. Jones then told detectives the location of the children’s bodies.
Jones’ trial went into the penalty phase in January and the jury recommended the death penalty.
Jones will be sentenced at 9 a.m. at the Marion County Courthouse.
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About the Author:
Ezzy Castro
Ezzy Castro is a multimedia journalist on News 6's morning team who has a passion for telling the stories of the people in the Central Florida community. Ezzy worked at WFOR CBS4 in South Florida and KBMT in Beaumont, Texas, where she covered Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Being from Miami, Ezzy loves Cuban coffee and croquetas!
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