Jury to soon decide if father gets death for killing 5 kids

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A jury is expected to begin deliberating whether a South Carolina father is sentenced to death or life in prison for killing his five children.

Prosecutors and lawyers for Timothy Jones Jr. are scheduled to give closing arguments Thursday morning in the sentencing phase of his trial.

The same Lexington County jury that convicted him of five counts of murder last week must vote unanimously for the death penalty or Jones will spend the rest of his life in prison without parole.

Jones killed his five children , ages 1 to 8, in their Lexington home in August 2014.

Jones’ lawyers say he deserves mercy because he was a good father with mental illnes s who snapped over drug use and single father stress.

Prosecutors say Jones is a selfish, angry man.

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