3.Tyler Jones — Direct

TYLER JONES: Tyler Jones, J-O-N-E-S.

TYLER JONES: I am the half brother of Tim. I've been -- you know, I've been involved with Timmy my whole life, since I've been little. You know, he got locked up and he went away for a little bit, you know, we lost touch, but when he got out, we got in touch together again.

TYLER JONES: Yes, sir.

TYLER JONES: Yeah.

TYLER JONES: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

TYLER JONES: Yeah, yeah, in a sense that, you know, he always -- when I got to the age that I was able to learn and everything, Tim always guided me in the right direction. You know, always influenced me to do better, to just further my knowledge.

TYLER JONES: I would say like Timmy was nine when they had me. I would say about nine years, nine years older.

TYLER JONES: Yes, sir. At that time, we always had family Christmases. You know, we always -- you know, it was just us five at that time and we always spent as much time as we could with each other. I mean, Timmy was older, of course, but, you know, for the most part, it was me and my brother, Trav, and then there was Timmy.

TYLER JONES: Yeah. Of course, we got a little bit older, but it was still the same family Christmas every year. It didn't matter what holiday it was, Fourth of July, we were always all together having a cookout, always hanging out.

TYLER JONES: Skateboarding. I will never forget it. Skateboarding. Skateboarding, yeah, skateboarding, he was always good, yeah. I remember there was this one time there was a recycling bin, an old recycling bin that they had back in the day, and it was sitting there out in front of the driveway. And I remember he was like -- he ran into the garage, grabbed his skateboard and came back out. And, you know, at that time, it was a different -- you know, the whole neighborhood hung out. You know, everybody's kids all hung out. It was a good time for everybody. And he brought out that skateboard and he -- -- and everybody was just like, oh, my gosh, Timmy, wow, man, what. So I always -- I took on skateboarding after that.

TYLER JONES: That's my brother, Timmy.

TYLER JONES: Yes, sir.

TYLER JONES: Architecture. After I got to a certain age -- after I got to a certain age, you know, me and Timmy were talking a lot on the phone. And I did a lot of architecture in high school, vocational architecture and stuff like that. He saw that I had a very good interest in it and he always influenced me, man, go to college. Go get you a book, go to college. And he saw that I really enjoyed it. And that was something that we could bond over, you know. I wasn't the smartest person in the world, but he was, so, you know, we always -- you know, every time, it was like man, you're just so smart. How do I even hold a conversation with you right now?

TYLER JONES: Yes, sir.

TYLER JONES: I was. I was. And I remember it, it was in the back of grandma's -- they were in the back of grandma's house at the time. And my dad always raised us up to be good boys. And she was just standing out there and I remember just, you know, not to make it awkward, you know, or break the ice, so I ended up giving her a hug. But it was very, very strange, you know. I gave her that hug and I walked back inside. And she was just sitting there talking to the air, talking to nobody, fighting with somebody that wasn't there. And it was like hugging a ghost.

TYLER JONES: I do.

TYLER JONES: Yeah. I, unfortunately, got hooked on the spice for about two years and I burned a lot of bridges with my family. And it hurt me. It not only hurt my brothers, it hurt my whole family. And I regret it to this day, but I'm glad we're all here now. And my mom and my brother tried so hard -- and my dad tried so hard to get me off of it and there was nothing they could do. It was all on me. And I, unfortunately -- well, not unfortunately, but fortunately, was able to stop after two years because my buddy's mom ended up hanging herself over it.

TYLER JONES: Yes. I remember that phone call vividly. I remember talking to him on the phone. And he was like, you know, what are you doing? I was like, you know, I'm working night shift. Doing the same thing my dad was doing. And I was sitting there talking to him and he was like, you know, marijuana just ain't doing the same. I was like, What are you talking about? He was like, Well, they've got this new thing out. I was like, What is it? He said, Spice. And I just got off maybe three months, two -- yeah, three, four months, I had just gotten off of spice. And chills just instantly went down my whole body. I said, Tim, you got to stop. You have to stop. I've been down that road. You don't know what that drug is.

TYLER JONES: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I remember all the time, Timmy would call because, you know, I'd be working night shift. And Timmy would always put the kids down about 9:00 o'clock and he's always say goodnight to the kids, you know, and I got to talk to the kids and tell them I love them and, you know, I'll talk to you guys tomorrow.

TYLER JONES: Yeah. This was about the end of it. And he just -- he called me up and he was like, Man, how do you feel about going to Caribbean? I said, Well, you know, I'm working a night shift job. I'm 20 years old and I don't like working nights. So come on, let's go. He said, I need someone to take care of my -- help me raise my kids. I said, No problem, man. I'll drop everything I got right now and come with you.

TYLER JONES: Yes, sir.

TYLER JONES: Yes, sir.

TYLER JONES: I moved back to Mississippi to be with my dad because my dad -- I got a phone call from my grandma and my grandma said, One of you boys need -- one of you boys need to come down here and help your dad because he's going down a rough road. So I ended up moving down there and I've been stuck in Mississippi for three years.

TYLER JONES: Yes, sir.

TYLER JONES: I do not. I know what he did was horrible. He took five of our family members. Don't take no more from us. This family can't take it.

TYLER JONES: I would love to. I would love to. Any day, any minute, I would talk to him. He's my brother. I love him so much, you know. Just like anybody else has a brother or a sister, even though they did something super wrong, at the end of the day, you love your family and you love your brother and your sister, no matter what they do.