Tim Jones’ grandmother testified Friday that his mother neglected him as an infant.

The Red Bank father is facing the death penalty if found guilty of murdering his 5 children — Merah, 8; Elias, 7; Nahtahn, 6; Gabriel, 2 and Elaine Abigail, 1 — in their Red Bank home on Aug. 28, 2014.

Jones’ grandmother Roberta Thornsberry cared for him due to negligence, she told a Lexington courtroom Friday afternoon.

From birth to about 2 years old, Jones’ mother left him lying in his urine, washed him in cold water and did not feed him because “she didn’t want a fat baby,” Thornsberry said.

Tim Jones Sr. had his son’s mother committed to a mental hospital, she said.

“She was nutty as a fruitcake,” she said.

Jones’ grandmother gave this testimony about her grandson:

• Jones was a loner as a child. He had few friends but lots of family.

The elder Jones had custody of his son. When his mother was released from the hospital, she and her sister were arrested for trying to kidnap the boy by sneaking him out a bathroom window.

Jones Sr. got an order of protection for his son.

“You’re the closest he has to a mother?” a defense attorney asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

Jones’ grandmother also testified:

• Growing up in Mississippi, Jones’ family had problems with drugs, alcohol and domestic violence.

Jones “was a sensitive little kid,” Thornsberry testified.

• He was close to his aunt Elaine. After Elaine died of cancer, Jones named his youngest daughter for her.

• At 15, Tim was in a serious car accident. Part of the left side of his skull was caved in.

Thornsberry said they didn’t seem to notice a difference in him, just that he seemed to be acting like a typical teen.

“He was always a good student,” she said.

Jones told her he was released from the Navy due to an ear problem.

She learned recently he had been discharged due to mental problems.

During his time in prison for burglary, she said, he found a strict faith in God.

“He said I needed to speak in tongues,” she said.

“He read the bible to the children all the time,” she said. “They couldn’t watch television or listen to music.”

He had always wanted to know about his mother.

• As an adult, Jones was told “your mom’s sick.”

Jones found out where his mother was. His father brought her to Mississippi to see Jones at his insistence.

When she arrived, his mother was obese. She was dressed in a man’s shirt, pants and shoes.

“He didn’t want anything to do with her,” his grandmother said.

• Jones and his father argued 18 months before the August 28 murders.

Father and son didn’t speak much after that but, Jones called Thornsberry from Lexington 2 or 3 times a week to talk.

• Less than a month before the murders, the family reunited in Atlanta.

They had hopes to take the kids to an aquarium, but Jones arrived late.

He was sweating badly, was drinking and smoking.

• She, Jones, his father and the kids had dinner and watched television in a hotel together before Jones went out. He did not come back until 3 am.

The defense played hotel video showing Jones watching television with his grandmother holding baby Elaine on her lap while the other children ran around and played.

Only after the murders did Thornsberry find out Jones was also smoking Spice, or synthetic marijuana, which was illegal in 2014 and in all the states where he drove his children’s bodies in his Escalade.

“I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t put a finger on it,” she said.

She asked if she and Jones Sr. could at least take the youngest babies that weren’t in school back to Mississippi until he came to visit on Labor Day weekend.

“Grandma I can’t be away from my babies,” he told her.

It was the first time she had met 1-year-old Elaine. It would be the last time she would see the 5 kids alive.

Thornsberry said the whole family loved Jones, but he had tantrums as a child and always wanted to be the center of attention.

He was never afraid of his children and never heard voices that he told her about, she testified.

“He was very spoiled” as a child, she said. “He would never hurt himself. I never thought he’d hurt his children.”