U.S. man accuses of killing daughter, three of ex-girlfriend's relatives

A man pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing three of his ex-girlfriend's relatives and his own infant daughter, and he could face the death penalty. Jerry Jones also is accused of abducting three other children at the time of the killings in January 2004 in northwest Georgia. Prosecutor Joe Campbell said Jones wore regular clothes Tuesday to court when he pleaded guilty to his entire 22-count indictment. The indictment includes four counts of murder and counts of kidnapping, cruelty to children, theft and firearms violations, Campbell said. "I cannot say that I'm surprised or not surprised," Campbell said of Jones' decision to plead guilty. Jones still faces the death penalty in the slayings of Tom and Nola Blaylock, their daughter, Georgia Mae Bradley, and 10-month-old Jerri Jones, Campbell said. The Blaylocks were the mother and step-father of Melissa Peeler, Jones' ex-girlfriend.

"This was not a plea bargain," he said. The death penalty phase of the trial is expected to begin next year, Campbell said. If Jones does not receive the death penalty, he faces a sentence of up to 125 years in prison.

Police said that after the shooting, Jones took off with Peeler's three surviving children, two of them his own, and fled just over the state line near Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he was caught after a car chase the next night. He shot himself in the face and spent months in a prison hospital, reports the AP. N.U.