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In 2019, Michael Wayne Jones, a 41-year-old man from Summerfield, Florida, killed his wife, Casei, and their four children, Cameron Bowers, 9, his brother, Preston Bowers, 4, and sisters Mercalli Jones, 2, and 11-month-old Aiyana Jones. Shortly after the killings, Jones was charged with first-degree murder for each of the children and second-degree murder for his wife's death.
On Friday, April 28, 2023, Marion County Circuit Judge Anthony Tatti sentenced Michael Wayne Jones to death for the murder of his four children and life without the possibility of parole for the death of his wife.
The sentencing comes in the wake of a jury unanimously recommending that Michael Wayne Jones be put to death in January 2023. During the trial, the jury was presented with evidence in the case to determine whether to issue the death penalty. The January 2023 trial took place a month after Jones pleaded guilty to the murders.
Michael Wayne Jones killed his wife with a metal baseball bat and strangled and drowned the four children
According to multiple reports, on September 14, 2019, deputies with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office responded to a welfare check on Casei and the children. This came after Casei's mother, Nikki Jones, alerted the authorities saying that she hadn't heard from them for several weeks. Nikki reportedly told the deputy that she suspected Jones had harmed the family.
After reaching the home in the 14000 block of S.E. 86th Terrace, deputies declared the area a crime scene after they found foul odor emanating from the residence that was reportedly vacant.
A day later, Jones was arrested in Brantley County, Georgia, after he was involved in a crash. At the time, he told law enforcement that his wife's body was inside the vehicle and later confessed to killing their four children before leading them to the site where he had left the bodies.
As per the Ocala Star Banner, Jones was the biological father to two young daughters, and the two older boys were his wife's sons from another relationship.
As per Law & Crime, during questioning, Jones confessed to the crimes, adding that he killed his wife with a metal baseball bat. Officials said that the children were strangled and drowned on different dates. Authorities suspect that the victims were killed at least two months before their bodies were found in September.
Following his arrest in September 2019, in a news release, the sheriff’s office noted that Jones had kept the bodies at home for several weeks before transporting them.
Following Friday's hearing, Michael Wayne Jones' attorneys from the public defender's office said that they plan to appeal the sentence and had filed the paperwork with the motion.
Jones, who has been behind bars since his arrest in 2019, was granted credit for the 1,322 days he spent in jail for the life sentence in connection to his wife's death.
