A plan to kill? New details emerge in murder of Picayune man Willie ‘Chill’ Jones
The last call Willie “Chill” Jones received before his death came in at 1:46 a.m. on July 6 — the same morning Pearl River County authorities believe he was shot and killed for his money.
What the 28-year-old Picayune native didn’t know was that the caller — Dustin Michael Gray, a man Jones had considered a friend since their early days attending high school together — was allegedly planning his murder, affidavits in the case say.
Gray, 24, of Picayune, and his half-brother, Austin Brookshire, 18, of Rankin County, had gotten together to devise a plan to rob Jones of a big bundle of cash — between $10,000 and $40,000 — that Jones mostly kept in a shoe box he carried around with him.
Both brothers are now jailed on a first-degree murder charge in the July 6 robbery and killing of Jones. Gray is being held at the Marion County Correctional Facility, and Brookshire is jailed at the Lamar County jail in Purvis.
Gray’s wife, Erica Deleon Gray, 21, is jailed on a charge of accessory after the fact to murder at the Lenoir Rowell Criminal Justice Center in Poplarville. A minor was also arrested as an accessory to murder.
All three adults went before a judge in Pearl River County in July and August to hear the charges against them. A judge denied all three bond pending their indictments in the case.
That and other information in Jones’ killing came out in several affidavits filed by investigators in the case.
Dustin and Erica Gray were the first arrested, on an initial charge of possession of a stolen firearm, after they packed up their Picayune home and left town.
Authorities in Pueblo, Colorado, found the couple, and they were extradited back to Mississippi to face charges here. Neither fought extradition.
Dustin Gray, according to court papers, was the first to confirm to authorities that Willie Jones was dead.
Who shot Willie Jones?
The criminal case was initially investigated a missing person case because Jones’ family had reported him missing on July 6 and authorities had not found a body.
Dustin Gray was the last person the Jones family had seen with Willie Jones that morning.
Gray later told authorities he had picked up his friend that Fourth of July weekend to take him to “re-up” his stash of illegal drugs.
Gray returned to the home later without Jones, telling authorities at first that he last saw his longtime friend getting out of his car to get into a car with another man to do business.
The a different story started to come out, according to court papers, after Pearl River sheriff’s deputies and Picayune police went to Colorado and spoke to Dustin Gray.
Gray fingered his brother as the actual shooter, and his brother told authorities the two had a “pre-conspired scheme” to rob and shoot Jones.
Jones was in the back seat of Dustin Gray’s Hyundai Elantra on Ceasar Road in Pearl River County when he was shot and killed, records say.
A shallow grave in Hancock County
After the killing, the brothers told authorities they took Jones’ body to a wooded area on Texas Flat Road in Hancock County, where they buried him in a shallow grave.
Pearl River County Coroner Derek Turnage said an autopsy showed Jones died of multiple gunshot wounds. The state medical examiner’s office had to use physical evidence to positively identify Jones because his body was badly decomposed, Turnage said.
It wasn’t until after the murder, court papers say, that Erica Gray found out Jones had been shot to death and tried to help the two brothers clean blood off the back seat.
Dustin Gray would also go to a car wash, court records say, to try to get employees there to clean up the car, but they refused after noticing the blood in between the back seats.
Dustin Gray eventually dropped off the car at a relative’s home in Harrison County to get them to change out the back seat. That didn’t happen because Gray’s father, attorney Jim Gray III, found out it had been dropped off.
Jim Gray went to the home, saw the blood in the car and called authorities, who seized the car for physical evidence in the homicide.
Since Jones’ murder, someone set fire to Jim Gray’s law office in Picayune and authorities are still searching for suspects in the arson.
Jim Gray has told the Sun Herald he felt like his office was targeted because someone thought he would help his son avoid capture during his time on the run.
That wasn’t the case.
Authorities are still searching for suspects in the arson.
A reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the arson case. To report tips on the arson, call the Picayune Police Department 601-798-4682 or Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898.
