Marion County man sentenced to death after murdering his wife and 4 children

A Marion County man received four death sentences and one life second after he killed his children and his wife in 2019, the Fifth Judicial Court of Florida said. 

Michael Jones Jr killed his wife and her four children at their Summerfield home in August 2019 and carried their bodies around in his van for weeks, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. Jones was the father of two of the children and the other two belonged to Casei Jones, his wife. 

Investigators said he then drove their remains to Georgia where he disposed of the children’s bodies. Police in Georgia eventually arrested him after he got into a car crash and found his wife’s body in the van with him.

Jones appeared in court Friday where a judge handed down four life sentences for the death of each child and a life sentence for the second-degree murder of his wife, Casei.

In November, Jones pled guilty to one count of Second-Degree Murder in the death of his wife, Casei, and four counts of First-Degree Murder in the deaths of Casei’s four children.

On Thursday, January 12, 2023, a jury unanimously recommended that Michael Jones should be sentenced to death.