Mississippi man sentenced in 2020 murder of Willie ‘Chill’ Jones in Pearl River County
One of two men charged in the murder of Willie “Chill” Jones, a Picayune man who went missing and was later found dead in 2020, has been sentenced to life in prison.
Austin R. Brookshire, 21, of Rankin County was sentenced on Monday.
“I would like to thank the Pearl River County Sheriff’s department and the Picayune Police Department for their hard work that led to this defendant being brought to justice,” District Attorney Hal Kittrell said.
On July 6, 2020, Jones was reported missing to the Picayune Police Department by his family.
Austin R. Brookshire and his half-brother Dustin Michael Gray, 24, of Picayune, who Jones considered a friend, had planned to rob Jones of a large amount of money he was keeping in a box, according to Sun Herald reports.
Brookshire then shot and killed Jones in the backseat of Dustin Gray’s car in Pearl River County and took Jones’ body to a wooded area on Texas Flat Road in Hancock County, where they buried him in a shallow grave, according to records.
An affidavit from the case said that Gray then attempted to get his car washed but employees at the car wash he went to refused after seeing the blood in the backseat.
Gray’s wife, Erica Deleon Gray, 21, is charged with accessory after the fact to murder and allegedly helped try to clean the vehicle before fleeing with Gray to Pueblo, Colorado, where they were eventually picked up by authorities and extradited back to Mississippi.
Gray’s father, attorney James L. “Jim” Gray, turned over Gray’s vehicle to the police after seeing the blood in the backseat. Jim Gray received threats and his office was burned down as his son was on the run from authorities.
As Jones’ family members held a vigil to pray for their missing son in the summer of 2020, protests were being held around the country over the death of another Black man, George Floyd.
Misinformation spread through rumors on Facebook led to right-wing militias gathering in Picayune over false notions that instead of a vigil for a missing Black man, a group of Black Lives Matter and Antifa supporters were going to allegedly burn down the town. That did not happen, but ring-wing militia members amassed in Picayune anyway without violence.
Austin Brookshire was found guilty in a trial on May 24, 2023. The case was investigated by the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department and Picayune Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys John Dowdy and Christina Holcomb.
Dustin Gray’s trial is set for August.
Sun Herald reporter Margaret Baker contributed to this report.
