Timothy Jones, Jr. Waives Court Appearance

JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press

LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) – The man who police say killed his five young children, then drove around for days with their decomposing bodies before dumping them on a rural Alabama road has waived his first court appearance in South Carolina.

Timothy Ray Jones Jr.’s lawyer, Boyd Young, said Friday morning that his client did not want to appear. The hearing had been scheduled for 10 a.m.

Later Friday, 500 miles away in Amory, Mississippi, the five children, ages 1 to 8, will be remembered at a memorial. A poem will be read for each child, and there will be a balloon ceremony and a slide show.

Divorce records say the children were: Merah, 8; Elias, 7; Nahtahn, 6; Gabriel, 2, and Elaine Marie, 1.