A central Illinois jury has acquitted a man of murder charges in the death of his cousin.

A Mason County jury decided Friday that Randy Deskin was not guilty of beating 27-year-old Dustin Englebrecht to death.

Authorities have said the 34-year-old Deskin was at Englebrecht's home in rural Mason County the day he disappeared and was the last person to see him alive. Englebrecht was found in a shallow grave on his property. The area is about 40 miles southwest of Peoria.

Deskin, who is from Green Valley, was an inmate at Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet when authorities arrested him.