Macon District Attorney/Alexus Watkins/FacebookAn 18-year-old has been sentenced to life in prison for strangling his sister during a fight over a WiFi password.
Kevon Watkins, who was 16 at the time of the incident, was sentenced on Friday (August 2) after being found guilty of strangling 20-year-old Alexus Breanna Watkins to death in their home in Macon, Georgia, on February 2, 2018.
According to a release from the Macon District Attorney’s Office, Watkins changed the WiFi password ahead of the incident so his family members couldn’t access the internet and he could play video games without them slowing the connection.
Kavon Watkins/FacebookHe is said to have argued with his mum over the WiFi and his sister intervened as she feared Watkins was about to become physical with their mother.
The two siblings fell to the ground as they began physically fighting. Evidence and testimony presented in the trial showed Watkins placed his sister in a choke-hold and held her there for an estimated 15 minutes.
It’s thought the police were called twice throughout the altercation; once by Watkins’ younger brother and once by the mother, who called 911 after failing to separate her children.
Posted by Alexus B Watkins on Sunday, December 17, 2017
At the sentencing on Friday, Bibb Superior Court Judge Verda M. Colvin relayed the phone call the Watkins’ brother had made.
He said:
When he called, he said the following: “My brother is trying to hit my mother.”
The dispatcher asked, “Is he on medication.” And the 13-year-old said, “No. He’s just crazy. … He put her in a chokehold, threatening to beat my mom trying to get him off my sister”.
Watkins only released his hold on his sister after deputies raided the home and ordered him to.
Bibb County sheriff’s investigator Marcus Baker interviewed Watkins immediately after the incident and testified ‘he couldn’t really explain to me why he didn’t release her.’
Officials performed CPR in an attempt to resuscitate the 20-year-old and she was taken to hospital, however she died from asphyxiation later the same night. Alexus had a three-year-old son and was engaged at the time of her death.
The 18-year-old’s trial lasted for two days and included testimony from a deputy who said he found the teen choking his sister when he arrived on the scene.
NEW MUGSHOT: This is 18-year-old Kevon Watkins of Macon, who was sentenced to life in prison today after being found guilty of strangling his 20-year-old sister to death during a fight over WiFi. https://t.co/LlIoQFDQLd pic.twitter.com/2bbupu9GIC
— WGXA (@WGXAnews) August 2, 2019
District Attorney David Cooke said:
This act of violence resulted in an unspeakable tragedy for this family. I hope this verdict and sentence closes the door on this chapter of their lives and that they will be able to begin to heal.
Watkins’ actions constituted felony murder rather than manslaughter, despite intentionally placing Alexus in a choke-hold it’s believed he didn’t intend to kill her.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.