MS Coast man sentenced for robbery & killing of Willie ‘Chill’ Jones in Pearl River County

Margaret Baker
·2 min read

A second brother convicted of capital murder in the robbery and killing of Pearl River County resident Willie “Chill” Jones is headed to prison for life without the possibility of parole, Peal River County District Attorney Hall Kitrell said in a release.

A jury convicted Dustin Michael Gray, 27, of Picayune, of capital murder, following a trial in August. His sentencing was deferred until October, when Judge Prentiss Howell imposed the sentence.

Gray and his half-brother, Austin Brookshire, have now been sentenced to life without parole in Jones’s July 6, 2020, robbery and killing.

A body believed to be that of Willie Ray “Chill” Jones, left, has been found. Dustin Gray and his wife, Erica Gray, were extradited from Colorado to Pearl River County on charges related to Jones’ killing. Dustin’s father, Jim Gray, said his law office was burned and he’s received threats because people think he was helping his son elude authorities.

“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,” Kitrell said after the sentencing in Gray’s case.

According to court records and other interviews, Jones considered the brothers’ friends and met up with them the morning he disappeared.

The brothers planned before the killing to steal $40,000 in cash that Jones had on him in the metal box he stores his money in.

Pearl River county investigators determined Brookshire shot and killed Jones in the backseat of Gray’s car, and then the two brothers buried his body in a shallow grave near Texas Flat Road in Hancock County.

In the aftermath of the killing, the family of Jones, who is Black, held vigils for him, and the community came together to search for his body.

Gray’s father ultimately turned in information that led authorities to suspect Gray’s involvement in the killing.

James L. “Jim” Gray’s law office on West Carol Street in Picayune was burned to the ground Tuesday after he received threats on social media to take such action. Gray’s son, Dustin Gray, is a person of interest in the July 6 disappearance of Willie Ray Jones, of Picayune.
James L. “Jim” Gray’s law office on West Carol Street in Picayune was burned to the ground Tuesday after he received threats on social media to take such action. Gray’s son, Dustin Gray, is a person of interest in the July 6 disappearance of Willie Ray Jones, of Picayune.

His father, attorney James L. “Jim” Gray, called authorities after he found blood in Gray’s car. Gray and his wife, Erica Deleon Gray, went on the run for days before officers caught up with them.

Afterward, Gray’s father received online threats, and someone burned his office to the ground under what authorities called suspicious circumstances.

Once Gray was in custody, Brookshire was later identified as the gunman.

Around 200 people filled J.P. Jones Park in Picayune on Wednesday, July 15th, 2020 for a vigil in honor of Willie Ray Q. Jones. Jones was reported missing on July 6th, 2020.
Around 200 people filled J.P. Jones Park in Picayune on Wednesday, July 15th, 2020 for a vigil in honor of Willie Ray Q. Jones. Jones was reported missing on July 6th, 2020.

The killing occurred the same year a law enforcement officer was arrested in the killing of another Black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis, which resulted in national cries for justice from various groups, including Black Lives Matter.

Misinformation soon spread about the circumstances leading to the killing in Pearl River County, prompting right-wing militias to gather in Picayune on the false premise that Black Lives Matter and Antifa supporters planned to burn the city.

No violence occurred.

Assistant district attorneys John Dowdy and Christina Holcomb prosecuted the case.

A drug deal, a bloody car and a cash-filled shoe box. What happened to Willie Jones?

As a Black family searched for a loved one, white Picayune groups spread rumors of fear

A plan to kill? New details emerge in murder of Picayune man Willie ‘Chill’ Jones