For Immediate Release
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
Statement from family of Arcane “AJ” Wilkinson
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA — The following statement has been released by Aimee Wilkinson, the sister of Arcane “AJ” Wilkinson and representative of the Wilkinson family:
“Last night, I received a call from Detective James Greco of the Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office informing me that Joey Barnes had been arrested for the murder of my brother, Arcane “AJ” Wilkinson. The news left me speechless, overwhelmed, relieved and hurt, as Joey was a close friend of AJ and someone AJ referred to as a brother. I, along with my family, feel further victimized by this sense of betrayal. This arrest is extremely important for us as we do not want any other family to experience the heartache we have endured from this tragedy. AJ deserves peace. He was a kind man, the fourth of 10 children whose mother died when he was a young boy. He went to school to be a mechanic and worked as a sushi chef. AJ dreamed of starting a family of his own. He wanted to be a father one day. His death left what felt like an irreparable hole in our hearts. With this arrest, we feel that AJ’s soul can now be at peace and our family can begin to heal. Our sincere thanks go out to Detective Greco and his colleagues who we know have worked countless hours on this case to reach this point. We ask for the prayers of the public as we continue to grieve.”
Moving forward, the family requests that members of the media use the attached photo of Arcane Wilkinson, and discontinue the use of previously published and broadcasted photos.
-30-
Pickup Communications is a public relations firm that specializes in supporting victims and survivors of crime in engaging with the media, at no cost to the victims. It was founded by former journalist Tamara Cherry, who reported on crime for CTV News Toronto, the Toronto Sun and Toronto Star. Follow @PickupComms on Twitter.