COURTLAND, MS (abc24.com) - While James Willie sits in the Tunica County Jail, his family members are sitting in disbelief at their home in Courtland, Mississippi.
Willie's older brother, Jonathan Willie, defended his brother, saying the James he knows would never hurt anyone and hearing his younger brother is locked up and accused of terrorizing north Mississippi is hard to deal with.
"It's real tough, man," Jonathan said, "They making my brother out to be a monster."
But police in Mississippi say James Willie is the interstate killer that took two lives.
Still, Jonathan says of his brother, "James Willie, he comes from a good family, he ain't no killer… he didn't grow up that way, he didn't come up that way."
Jonathan says he and his brother James, along with a sister, were raised by their mom.
"It's tearing her up. It's hard to hear that about her son," he said, "We trying not to upset her. She's got a heart murmur her kidneys are gone and she doesn't need to hear any of this stuff, she doesn't need to be around it."
Although he's concerned about his mom, Jonathan says he' also worried about the victims' families. "Two people have lost their lives… they have families too."
If it turns out his brother took those lives, Jonathan said he'll be "hurt and ashamed."
In the meantime, Jonathan says police caught the wrong man. "I heard that the guy was white, was on the police force. How it goes from that to little young black boy?" he asked. "I just hope they get their facts straight."
