The Latest: Jury selection starts dad’s death penalty trial

LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — The Latest on the death penalty trial of a South Carolina father in the deaths of his five children (all times local):

5 p.m.

A judge has divided dozens of potential jurors into groups of eight as he starts days of jury selection in the death penalty trial of a South Carolina father charged with killing his five children.

Nearly 200 people were summoned to the Lexington County courthouse Monday for the trial of 37-year-old Timothy Jones Jr.

After dismissing unqualified people, media outlets report Circuit Judge Eugene Griffith split the remaining jurors into groups of eight and said they would be extensively questioned one-on-one by defense lawyers and prosecutors.

Jones is charged with five counts of murder. Police say he killed his children, ages 8, 7, 6, 2 and 1, in their Lexington home in August 2014. He drove their bodies around for a week, buried them in Alabama and then was arrested in Mississippi.

Court records show defense attorneys plan an insanity defense for Jones.

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1:45 a.m.

Jury selection is set to begin in the death penalty trial of a father who police said killed his five young children in their South Carolina home.

Authorities say after 37-year-old Timothy Jones Jr. killed his children, ages 8, 7, 6, 2 and 1, in their Lexington home in August 2014, he drove their bodies around for a week, burying them in Alabama and then being arrested in Mississippi.

Jones is charged with five counts of murder. Jury selection begins Monday in Lexington County and should last several days.

Court records show defense attorneys plan an insanity defense for Jones.

Department of Social Services records say Jones had custody of the children, but was struggling to properly care for them and do his job as a computer engineer.