Jurors haunted by murdered boy's broken Toy Story doll in court

Timothy Jones Jr killed his five children with his own hands. After they were dead, he drove around with their bodies for nine days before dumping them in garbage bags. Photo / AP

Jurors were left shaken during the trial of Timothy Jones Jr, who killed his five children in 2014, when his deceased 6-year-old's son broken Toy Story doll was heard saying "Boy, am I glad to see you," Daily Mail reports.

Members of the jury were distressed by the doll's message where they believe it was Nahtahn speaking out to them.

During the trial, in June, the jury was told that the little boy loved his Woody doll "more than anything," South Carolina's The State newspaper reports.

The jurors believe the six-year-old son spoke to them through his beloved Toy Story doll, Woody. Photo / 123RF

Through Jones' trial, for the death of his five children that he killed with his own hands, jurors learned that he tortured Nahtahn the most.

As a result of the child accidentally breaking an electrical outlet and confessing to his mother and not his father, Jones forced Nahtahn to do military-type exercises until he dropped dead from fatal exhaustion, solicitor Rick Hubbard said.

Jones also confessed to strangling 7-year-old Elias and chased down 8-year-old Merah before choking her. He then used a belt to choke 2-year-old Gabriel and 1-year-old Abigail because he said his hands were too big.

The description of the gruesome murders is what left jurors traumatised for months after the trial.

"I think about it every day," a juror told the state.

"Many times during the trial, I went in the jurors' bathroom and just wailed – cried my eyes out," she added.

Many other jurors say they can't shake the horrific imagery, including repeated testimony from law enforcement officials about "the smell of death" from the Jones children's decomposing bodies.

After killing the children, Jones loaded their bodies into his SUV and drove around the Southeast US for nine days before dumping them in five black garbage bags on a dirt road near Camden, Alabama. He was arrested hours later after an officer at a traffic checkpoint in Smith County, Mississippi, said he smelled a horrible odor of decomposition.

Jones showed no emotion as the jury delivered the verdict after less than two hours of deliberation. He was sentenced to death. They also could have sentenced him to life without parole.