Murder Suspect’s Family Speaks Out

SAVANNAH, Ga.—A man suspected of killing a Savannah woman sits in jail without bond, but his family claims he’s innocent.

Metro Police spent several hours Monday searching the Tatemville and Liberty City areas for three men wanted on various charges. After a nearly five hour manhunt, police caught Mik-hail Hayes, 21.

Hayes was wanted for questioning in the murder of Thomishea McClendon, 26, on September 13 at the intersection of West 57th and Crane.

Tisha Bostick and Mi-ok Bright are not related by blood, but they share a common bond—their brother, Mik-hail Hayes.

“It was a shock. It’s like, you know, they must have the wrong person. This is not my brother,“ said Bostick, his older sister on his father’s side.

“Let her family know that our family is grieving as well and our sympathy goes out to her family,“ said Bright, whose mother Michelle was also Hayes’s mother.

The sisters said their brother had been dating McClendon, but they’d broken up. “I’ve never met her. I’d been to her house one time to visit my brother,“ said Bright.

They describe their brother as someone who loves kids.

“I was raised with… 2 sisters. It was like the little brother I always wanted. My kids took to him real fast. He was playful with the kids. He loved them,“ said Bostick.

“Our mother died when we were young, so he went to stay with his dad. I stayed with my grandmother. We did visitation or whatever, so we really grew up apart, but came back closer once we got up in age,“ said Bright.

Though he has a past criminal history, Bostick and Bright said they don’t think he killed anyone.

“We don’t know. There’s 2 sides to every story, so we can’t say what’s going to be the outcome of it,“ said Bright.

The family said they plan to support Hayes as he faces the charges.

Hayes is facing charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and other charges, but he has not yet been charged with murder.

Last month McClendon’s mother Ida said Hayes left her daughter’s three children without their mother.

“It was devastating.  It was unreal.  It felt like… It just felt like we were all having a dream, and we hadn’t woke up,“ said Ida McClendon.

Hayes is set to appear in court on November 4.