Michael Wayne Jones receives 4 sentences of death.

Jones admitted to killing his wife and four children. On Friday, he was sentenced to death for killing each of the children and to life in prison without parole for killing his wife.

In November 2022, Michael Wayne Jones admitted to killed his wife and four children, the Ocala StarBanner reported. Here’s an article by People about the crimes. According to that article, two of the children were Jones’ stepchildren.

In the penalty phase, which occurred in Marion County circuit court, “Jones' defense attorneys argue[d] that” death was inappropriate due to mitigating factors that included Jones’ “traumatic upbringing, including being molested by his father and abused by a stepfather,” according to People. The penalty phase jury instructions show that the defense presented 54 mitigating circumstances, several of which relate to Jones’ mental illness and traumatic childhood.

The jury questions indicate that at least one member of the jury required a translator and suggest that the jury considered the mitigating circumstances in earnest.

The jury unanimously recommended death on each count. (Jones was tried under Florida’s old, post-Hurst statute.) Here’s the verdict form.

On Friday, Jones was sentenced to death for the murders of each of the four children.

For the murder of his wife, Jones was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. According to the jury instructions, the state did not seek death for that count.

Jones has the automatic right to file a direct appeal with the Supreme Court of Florida, which the Ocala StarBanner reported his attorneys are preparing immediately.