Family hopes for mental health treatment for brother accused of killing brother in Anderson County

July 06--In jail after being charged in the death of his brother, Jean Francois Mareus will hopefully get some mental health treatment, said his older brother, Nava Mareus.

"I've lost both my brothers," Nava said.

He said the three brothers were close, living together in an apartment less than a mile from where Anel Mareus' body was discovered late Thursday near Pearman Dairy and Getzinger roads in Anderson County.

Jean Mareus, 36, is accused of beating his brother Anel, 42, to death with a solid object such as a stick or a pipe. He is in custody on a murder charge without bond at the Anderson County Detention Center, and federal immigration authorities have placed a hold order on him, according to jail records.

A warrant indicates Jean confessed to killing his brother.

Nava said Jean has mental health issues that have yet to be properly treated.

The youngest of the three brothers, Jean moved to America in February and had not had time to adjust, Nava said.

The oldest of the three, Nava said he is a United States citizen who has lived here for about two decades and works at the BMW plant in Greer. Anel was a resident of the United States and worked at the Unaflex plant in Anderson, Nava said.

"I'm a Haitian-American," he said. "We came here looking for a better life."

Nava said Jean had blackouts after coming to America, not remembering what happened or how he got places. But Jean had not been violent toward people, Nava said.

One of those blackouts happened less than a week before the killing, when the brothers were out for a hair cut.

"When it happened at the barber shop, I had to take him back to the house," Nava said. "He didn't know; he don't even remember being taken to the house. Two hours later he asked what happened with the hair cut. He said, 'What kind of sickness is this?' I said, 'I don't know.'"

While Jean and Anel were watching soccer Thursday and Nava was away, Jean left the apartment and Anel chased him, likely meaning to calm him down and watch over his younger brother, Nava said.

"That sickness got to him," Nava added.

Jean told authorities, and his surviving brother, that he didn't remember what happened until he got into the back of a police car to get food, Nava said.

During the ride to get something to eat, Jean and Nava talked in their native tongue, Haitian Creole, and Jean admitted to knowing where Anel's body was to be found.

"I said, in my language, to him, 'Can you show me where my brother is?'" Nava said. "He (Jean) came back to normal, and he said go this way and go that way."

Nava said his brother didn't recognize that he had killed Anel and still cannot come to understand what happened.

"Now my brother is dead, and there is nothing anyone can do to bring him to life," Nava said. "My other brother is in jail. We all have families."

Haitian-Americans are working to help Nava, said Mirlaine Bichotte, who has known Anel for between 6 and 7 years as a fellow member of the Anderson Haitian Wesleyan Church.

She said the mental health issues were kept under wraps by the Mareus brothers, which is not unusual in the culture.

But Haitians also care deeply for each other and work hard to share their successes and lessen their pains.

"We're hardworking people," she said. "We come here and work hard to help family back home and bring others here so they can have a chance at success here."

Independent Mail reporter Frances Parrish contributed to this story.

Follow Mike Ellis and Frances Parrish on Twitter @MikeEllis_AIM and @Frances_AIM

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