Florida Woman Found Dead With Arrows In Head, Son Charged

A Florida man has been charged with murder after shooting his mother in the head with a bow-and-arrow. Police found the deceased woman with arrows still in her head.

According to Fox 10, the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office was called to the Mary Esther, Florida, home on a complaint of “criminal mischief.” A call was made to the Sheriff’s Office about a disturbance on Avon Lane around 2:48 a.m. on Sunday. The Sheriff said that the caller was reporting that someone was in her neighbor’s yard “knocking over Christmas decorations and yelling.”

When authorities arrived, they said they could see a woman slouched over a couch with arrows in her head. At this point, 42-year-old Michael Watkins came out of the house with a sheathed knife in his waistband. NFW Daily News notes that police used a taser twice on Watkins before taking him into custody.

The official release from the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office notes that Watkins was arrested on charges of murder and resisting arrest without violence. The release does state that Watkins admitted to killing his mother, the woman shot in the head with the arrows. The victim was 65-year-old Gloria Watkins. The motive is not completely clear, though Watkins says it was self-defense. Watkins did admit to killing his mother. Beside the bow-and-arrow attack, the sheriff’s office said Watkins also shot and stabbed his mother. The arrest report says Watkins claimed “he had to kill her because she was trying to kill him.”

However, CBS Miami reports that Watkins also made some other remarks regarding his mother at the scene. The report notes that Watkins said, “You see that, that’s death,” as he pointed to his mother’s body.

An autopsy will be conducted by the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the official cause of death, whether it be bow and arrow, gunshot, or knife inflicted.

This isn’t the first time a bow and arrow has been used to kill a victim. Earlier this month, a Paraguayan woman was found burned alive after she was shot with arrows. What was the motive for the Paraguayan woman’s murder? Witchcraft. The practice of burning women alive or otherwise killing them because suspicions of witchcraft are far from isolated in Paraguay