Man found guilty of 1st-degree murder in 15th District Circuit Court

From The Office of the Fifteenth Circuit Court District Attorney

POPLARVILLE, Miss. (WDAM) - A Rankin County man was scheduled to be sentenced in July after being found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder in the death of Willie “Chill” Jones of Picayune.

Fifteenth Circuit Court District Attorney Hal Kittrell announced Thursday that Austin R. Brookshire, 21, of Rankin County had been found guilty by a Pearl River County jury.

Kittrell said Brookshire would be sentenced July 24 by Circuit Court Judge Prentiss Harrell.

“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,” Kittrell said.

On July 6, 2020, the Picayune Police Department received a missing person report for Jones.

Through the course and scope of its investigation, PPD determined that the victim was in fact murdered in Pearl River County in the early morning hours of July 6, 2020.

The Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department took over the investigation and arrested Brookshire and charged him with Jones’ murder.

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.

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