Family members tell NewsCenter 16 the man charged with killing his own sister in Cass County has a long history of mental instability.

59-year-old Edward Hensley is being held in the Cass County Jail on a charge of open murder after police say he stabbed his sister, Martha Jean Sexton, to death on Friday.

"It doesn't even feel real," said Sexton and Hensley's niece Cynthia Hunt. "My family's very devastated. We're just very heartbroken."

While Hensley has no local criminal record, Hunt says he was known to be hot-headed, especially when drinking.

And police say it appears Hensley had been drinking before he and Sexton got into a fight Friday night.

Now, in the wake of the tragedy, family members are trying to cling to the good memories.

"I'd just like her to be remembered as loving with her beautiful face," Hunt said.