Mom of 5 murdered kids asks jurors to spare ex-husband's life

LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WGHP/CNN) -- The ex-wife of a man who was found guilty of killing their five children in South Carolina took the stand this week to ask jurors not to sentence him to death.

Amber Kyzer was married to Timothy Jones Jr. for eight years and lived in Lexington County until 2012, when they got a divorce and shared joint custody of their children.

After their marriage ended, she was left without a job, a car or a license, and believed it'd be best to give her former husband primary custody of the children, CNN affiliate WIS reported.

She later found out he'd killed their children Mera, 8; Elias, 7; Nahtahn, 6; Gabriel, 2; and Abigail 1.

Jones pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, WIS reported. After three weeks of testimony, a jury found him guilty of five counts of murder on June 4. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty and a jury will determine the punishment.

Kyzer said while she was outraged at Jones for killing the children, she was pleading for his life on their behalf.

“He did not show my children mercy by any means. But my kids loved him and if I'm speaking on behalf of my kids and not myself, that's what I would have to say,” she testified Tuesday. “I'm not here for me. The mom in me wants him to feel everything that I feel, that my kids felt. Nothing justifies, nothing justifies what you've done.”

During the hearing, she turned to the man she was once married to and told him how she loved him at one point, and so did their children. Jones wiped away tears with a handkerchief.

Her husband dumped the children's bodies in trash bags off a dirt road in Alabama. He was arrested while driving on September 6, 2014. Jones strangled them and choked them — some with his bare hands while he used a belt on others.

“I was finding out along with you guys and the world what had happened to my children. So in retrospect, the mom in me was like, fry him, fry him, absolutely. But from the beginning, I have maintained — I'm not a death penalty — I'm a strong believer in no death penalty,” Kyzer said.