Man sentenced to life in prison for 1st-degree murder in 15th District Circuit Court

From The Office of the Fifteenth Circuit Court District Attorney

PEARL RIVER COUNTY, Miss. (WDAM) - A Rankin County man was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of first-degree murder.

15th Circuit Court District Attorney Hal Kittrell announces that 21-year-old Austin R. Brookshire was sentenced on Monday for first-degree murder in the death of Willie “Chill” Jones of Picayune.

Brookshire was found guilty earlier this year, and his sentencing hearing was scheduled for July before Circuit Court Judge Prentiss G. Harrell.

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

Through the course and scope of its investigation, Picayune PD 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, charging him with Jones’ murder.

Austin Brookshire of Rankin County (then 18 years old)(Pearl River County Sheriff's Department)

This case was investigated by the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department and Picayune PD and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys John Dowdy and Christina Holcomb.

“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,” said Kittrell.

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