Five counts of murder and child neglect will be charged against the father who admitted to killing his five children, wrapping their lifeless bodies in plastic bags, and then discarding them in a dirt road off Alabama Highway 10. At present, no information has been released on whether he will be facing the death penalty. However, this punishment is available to the prosecutors in South Carolina.

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Authorities believe that the suspect Timothy Ray Jones, Jr., 32, had killed all his five children at the same time. Autopsies for the victims, who were aged one, two, six, seven, and eight years old, were scheduled to commence on Thursday. Acting Sheriff Lewis McCarty of Lexington County also stated that Jones appeared to have acted alone in committing the crimes. Investigators have yet to determine the motive of the father-of-five for killing his own children. 

The bodies of the five children were described by McCarty to be in an "advanced state of decomposition". However, the manner of death of the victims remains unclear. "We feel that he killed the five children at the same time," the sheriff stated. "I don't understand why he did it, but yes, these children were in the car, deceased in garbage bags for some period of time," he added.

Prior to admitting to the murder of his children, Smith County Sheriff Charlie Crumpton said that Jones wanted to make it appear that the victims were still alive. "He was saying, 'The kids have been taken care of, there's not a problem,'" Crumpton shared. "We knew that wasn't right because they would have turned up somewhere," he added.

A month prior to the murder of the five children, the state Department of Social Services (DSS) responded to a complaint filed against Jones, alleging the father of child abuse. The report, which was received on August 7, prompted social workers to investigate into the allegations. Caseworkers visited the house and interviewed Jones, the children, and their neighbors. However, the responding officials found no red flags during the visit. In addition, Jackie Swindler from the DSS stated that no evidence pertaining to the possibility of imminent danger towards the children was found.

Court documents show that Jones had a 'messy' divorce from his wife in October 2013. The divorce was claimed to have been filed due to the affair the children's mother was having with one of the family's neighbors. The neighbors disclosed that she moved in with her lover two years ago, which might have been the cause of Jones' decision to move to another state with the children.

Jones is an Intel engineer who completed his studies at the University of Mississippi with a degree in computer engineering. His ex-wife was indicated in court papers to not have a work outside of their home. She also did not have a driver's license. During the divorce proceedings, Jones was granted primary custody of the five children. In addition, a therapist described Jones as "highly intelligent" and a "responsible father". 

TagsAlabama, Murder, Father, child neglect, Child abuse