Brother of accused murderer speaks out

HARRY HARRIS said he once met Jasmine Wright's parents, albeit briefly.

He watched as they unloaded boxes from her Nissan sedan, walking them into her third-floor apartment on 50th Street near Locust in West Philly.

She pointed him out to them, introducing him as "Harry," the maintenance man in the building next door.

They smiled, said hello and went about their business. Harris did likewise.

Now, he wishes he could say more to them.

"They have my sincerest and deepest apologies. There's no way I can put this into words," Harris, 59, told the Daily News yesterday, hours after his brother James was charged with raping and murdering Wright.

"People can sit back and apologize for the rest of their lives, but it doesn't change anything."

The news came as a shock to Harris - he couldn't believe the "Jimmy" he knew would do that.

He knew his brother struggled through an abusive childhood, growing into an adult who couldn't keep out of trouble.

But he never expected his brother to lash out so violently, he said.

And he still considered Jimmy his "hero," someone who stuck by him when he was held captive by his addiction to crack.

"He was always someone I could call on in a time of need - he rescued me from men who were trying to beat me, even kill me," said Harris, who's now eight months sober, his longest stretch ever, and has the documentation from his parole officer to prove it.

"This hasn't hit me yet. There's heartbreak on both sides," he said. "I lost a hell of a part of me."

The two men were close as kids. They had to be in their father's household, Harris said.

James Washington was abusive, physically and emotionally, to his wife and kids, according to his son.

Harris said Jimmy got it the worst because he was Washington's biological son. To hear Harris tell it, Jimmy finally snapped in his 20s and killed Washington, a crime he served five years in prison for.

"Jimmy thought it was the only way to get mom away from our dad," Harris said. "He thought our mom was in danger, but it wasn't her - it was him."

Harris said his brother's life "went downhill" after his father's death. Jimmy became withdrawn, thinking no one in his family cared about him.

"We tried to love him as much as possible, to look out for him as a family," Harris said. "Even the incident with our father, we got him through it."

But Jimmy kept adding entries to his criminal record. Harris tried to get him to straighten up; it was about as effective as when Jimmy tried to get him to stop smoking crack, a drug Harris swears his brother avoided.

Finally, after years of floating around together, the brothers landed in an apartment on 50th Street near Locust about three years ago. And, for a while, things were stable.

The brothers landed jobs, working side-by-side as maintenance men in neighboring buildings.

The stability convinced Harris, who had tried rehab unsuccessfully in the past, to kick drugs for good: He started treatment in the spring.

"I want my freedom," Harris said. "This is my last resort."

He and his brother moved away from 50th Street on June 1, around the same time that Jimmy and his boss, building owner Harold Murray, had a falling out, Harris said.

Jimmy quit his job, but Harris kept his, making the trek a few times a week from his new apartment.

That all changed July 16, when police found Wright's body.

Now, he says, he can't bear to go back to that block.

"I don't feel comfortable there anymore," he said. "There's nothing for me there now."