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LEXINGTON, S.C. (AP) — The man who police say killed his five children waived his first court appearance Friday because he is being "portrayed as a monster" and needs a mental health evaluation as soon as possible, his attorney said.

Timothy Ray Jones Jr., 32, has been treated for mental health problems in the past, his attorney Aimee Zmroczek said. She would not specify what sort of treatment or problems he has had.

"He is being portrayed as a monster," she said. "He is scared and simply wants someone to guide him through the process."

About 400 miles away in Amory, Mississippi, Jones' children were remembered at the Amory Church of Christ. A program showed a photo of each child smiling and offered a description of what they liked to do.

The youngest, 1-year-old Elaine, loved giving high fives and kisses. The oldest, Merah Gracie, enjoyed dressing up like a princess, going to church, reading books and coloring.

Two of the boys — 7-year-old Elias and 6-year-old Nahtahn — loved to fish. Nahtahn also liked to swim, ride his bike and dress up like Ironman. Elias dressed up like Spiderman.

Their brother, 2-year-old Gabriel, enjoyed watching Care Bears, "VeggieTales" and playing with the family.

At the end of the description for the four oldest children, the program said: "loved wrestling with dad."

On the pulpit area, there was a wreath on an easel with a photo of each child. Yellow and pink flowers and a colorful array of ribbons dotted the wreaths. Star-shaped balloons were tied to them.

Back in South Carolina, before their father's scheduled initial appearance, his attorneys filed documents saying the hearing was entirely unnecessary and could taint a potential jury pool and prevent him from receiving a fair trial.

Authorities said Jones killed his three boys and two girls, wrapped their bodies in separate trash bags and drove around for days with their decomposing bodies before dumping them on a rural hilltop in Alabama. Jones killed them at his home about two weeks ago, before his ex-wife reported them missing, Acting Lexington County Sheriff Lewis McCarty said. The motive and cause of death was still being investigated, authorities said.

Jones' attorney Zmroczek said he has been held in isolation under suicide watch. Lexington County authorities expect to transfer him to a state prison for his safety.

On Thursday, social services officials released a file detailing allegations of abuse and about a dozen visits to Jones' homes in the last three years. Authorities never found anything serious enough to take the children away.

Case workers made visits as Jones' marriage fell apart amid allegations his wife cheated on him with a neighbor. She talked about being lonely and what a mistake the couple thought they made moving from Mississippi. They left for South Carolina after he got a degree at Mississippi State University and landed a job making $71,000-a-year job as a computer engineer at Intel.

A therapist who saw Jones more than two years ago described him as "highly intelligent" and responsible, yet emotionally devastated and angry over his wife's alleged infidelity, divorce records show.

An intoxicated and agitated Jones was arrested at a DUI checkpoint in Smith County, Mississippi, on Saturday, and authorities said he had a form of synthetic marijuana on him. Officers found children's clothes, blood and maggots in his SUV.

Three days later, authorities said he led police to the bodies on a remote hillside in Alabama.

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I just....I dont even know what to say . Those poor babies.

it bothers me that if he was mentally ill enough to do something like this why were there no signs... weird behavior to alert friends? those poor babies...

I take people with mental illness seriously because it's a serious thing but FFS the mental illness card gets pulled WAYYYY to freaking much in cases like this. This man murdered his children in cold blood and something needs to be done. God rest their souls and I hope he suffers for the rest of his life. This just makes me sick and saddens me to my core.

What he did was incomprehensible and, mentally ill or not, he should be locked up for life. There is obviously something in him that is really fucked up and he is a clear danger to society. Having said that, if he was investigated on a number of occasions and nobody saw a problem, who exactly are these investigators and how are they trained? Something really needs to be looked at there and dealt with. The system is really fucked up!!
My heart goes out to those sweet babies and their mama and all the people that love and miss them.