RANGER, Ga. - A manhunt across the Southeast ended late yesterday when a tip led authorities to a jealous ex-husband who allegedly killed three former in-laws and his infant daughter, then fled with three girls.
The girls were found safe, and the suspect shot himself in the face after a police chase on Interstate 75 near the Tennessee line. Authorities said he was hospitalized in critical condition.
Jerry William Jones, 31, is accused of shooting the former in-laws to death and strangling his infant daughter Wednesday before fleeing with the girls in a stolen sport utility vehicle. Two of the girls are his daughters, and the other is a former stepdaughter.
The suspect has a long criminal history, including convictions for burglary and auto theft.
Jones called his ex-wife, Melissa Peeler, late Wednesday and told her of the killings, adding that he would start killing the kids one by one if she alerted authorities, said his former brother-in-law, David O'Donnell.
Peeler had left the children with her parents and sister before leaving for Oregon to visit her boyfriend over the Christmas holidays. She notified police after getting the phone call.
Peeler's parents, Tom and Nola Blaylock, were found shot to death in one home. In the other house, authorities found Jones' former sister-in-law, Georgia Bradley, shot to death, while Jones' 10-month-old daughter by Peeler, Harley, apparently was strangled.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman John Bankhead said the crime scenes indicated that the killer was very methodical.
This wasn't quick. He clearly took his time
Bankhead said.
After a public alert was issued, police in Whitfield County got a tip that Jones' vehicle had been spotted headed north on Interstate 75 toward Tennessee.
Deputies spotted the car and saw the children, but Jones refused to pull over, GBI Director Vernon Keenan said. Jones drove a short way off the interstate when a state trooper bumped the car's rear, crashing it into a telephone pole.
The 10-year-old got out, and officers saw Jones slump in the front seat. They pulled the other children out, one of them covered in Jones' blood. Jones and the girls were found about 50 miles north of where the killings occurred 24 hours earlier.
The girls were being kept overnight at a Chattanooga hospital. They're being evaluated but I do not believe there are any serious injuries said hospital spokeswoman Jan Powell.
Bankhead said investigators would compare the weapon found with Jones to determine if it was used in Wednesday's shootings.
Authorities said the motive appeared to be jealousy over his ex-wife visiting her new boyfriend.
O'Donnell said that Jones was constantly threatening violence and that Peeler had been trying to get away from him.
He says all the time
he'll kill you
he'll kill me or whoever
O'Donnell said. He's an idiot
just a crazy person.
The missing girls are Peeler and Jones' children - Brandy Jones, 4, and Tammy Jones, 3 - and Peeler's daughter from a previous relationship, Brittany Phelps, 10. Officials say Peeler and Jones were never legally married but had a common-law marriage.
Jones' mother and stepfather were killed in the 1996 ValuJet crash in the Florida Everglades, and O'Donnell said Jones got a substantial settlement.
He blew the money almost as fast as he got it
mostly on drugs
O'Donnell said.
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