Jamie Barnett's family tell 27 NEWSFIRST they could never imagine Barnett would allegedly gun down a family friend.

Garland Lacy, Randy Lacy's brother, says, "James Barnett's family says he lost his way to drugs early in his life, and has the criminal record to prove it. But the Barnett family never expected Jamie Barnett to hurt anyone but himself."

James Barnett comes from a large family, but lost his father at a young age and was essentially raised by his older brother Jerry Barnett.

Jerry Barnett admits he couldn't keep Jamie out of trouble and is having a tough time not blaming himself for what happened to Chief Randy Lacy.

It's even harder on Jerry Barnett to deal with the chief's death because of the relationship he had with him.

Jerry Barnett says, "Randy was a good police officer, he was a good friend of mine, friend of the family."

According to Jerry Barnett, Jamie and Chief Lacy also had a good relationship when Barnett was sober, but he became a different man under the influence.

Jerry says, "a lot of times he was violent but most times it was towards himself, he'd mutilate his body in some way and talked about suicide."

Jamie Barnett will be arraigned in Powell County Friday morning.