A Mary Esther man admitted to killing his 65-year old mother inside their Avon Lane home early Sunday morning. 42-year old Michael Watkins is now charged with murder and resisting arrest without violence. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office was called to a home on Avon Lane around 2:48 Sunday morning in reference to a criminal mischief call. A homeowner said someone was in her front yard knocking over Christmas decorations and yelling. She told a responding deputy that she believed the man was a neighbor from 435 Avon Lane. When the deputy went to that address, the front door was open and he could see a female slouched over on a couch with arrows in her head.
Michael Watkins then came out of the house with a sheathed knife in his waistband. Deputies trying to take him into custody had to deploy their Tasers twice. Watkins gave an OCSO investigator various reasons why he killed his mother, 65-year old Gloria Watkins. An autopsy will be conducted by the Medical Examiner’s Office.
