Crime & Safety

Florida Man Charged for Shooting Mother with Bow-and-Arrow

Michael Watkins was arrested Sunday for allegedly killing his mother after police found her slumped in a chair with arrows in her head.

A Florida man has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting his mother with a bow-and-arrow and a gun before stabbing her Sunday.

Michael Watkins, 42, of Mary Esther, told police his mother “stole his diamonds and also gave his father cancer” and that “he had to kill her because she was trying to kill him,” according to an arrest report.

The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a man knocking over Christmas decorations and shouting at 2:48 a.m. Sunday. Once deputies arrived, they found 65-year-old Gloria Watkins slumped over in a chair with arrows protruding from her head.

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“You see that? That’s death,” Watkins said to authorities, according to the arrest report. Police reportedly subdued Watkins with a stun gun after he failed to comply with orders to get on the ground and brandished a knife, The Associated Press reports.

Watkins was charged with murder and resisting arrest without violence.

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