Who is James Hawkins, aka Jimmy from Practical Magic and what is their importance?

James Hawkins was Gillian's abusive boyfriend. Gillian comes to see Sally after Jimmy dies to help her hide the body. Gillian is sure that she killed Jimmy while giving him things to make him sleep so that he wouldn't hit her. He is buried in the back yard of Sally's house. The aunts later tell Gillian that she could not have killed Jimmy using the sleeping sedatives that she had been using, although they never discover what it was that killed Jimmy. Jimmy's spirit is seen by Kylie and he haunts the women and their house for a time until the aunts come to get rid of him.