'I don't want this case to go cold': Calls for justice continue four years after Winston-Salem murder

THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M LOUIE TRAN. TODAY MARKS FOUR YEARS SINCE POLICE FOUND A MAN SHOT DEAD AND IN WINSTON-SALEM YARD. AND FOUR YEARS LATER, POLICE ARE STILL LOOKING FOR MORE ANSWERS. OUR JACKIE PASCALE SPOKE WITH THE VICTIMS. THE THEN FIANCEE. AND TODAY, SHE’S STILL FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE. A FAMILY MEMBER CALLED ME HIS AUNTIE AND TOLD ME THAT HE GOT INTO IT WITH SOME GUYS AND I NEED TO COME OVER HERE. DREA WATKINS WAS TOLD TO COME TO THIS YARD WHERE HER 28 YEAR OLD FIANCE, JERRY WATKINS JR, WAS FOUND SHOT IN FRONT OF MY MIND. NO, HIS BAD. I FELT THE I FELT IT WAS BAD. HE WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD IN THAT YARD BEHIND A HOUSE OFF CLEMMONSVILLE ROAD IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF APRIL 1ST, 2019. I COULDN’T EVEN TURNING. I JUST STOPPED AND I JUST LOST IT. DREA WATKINS ASKED ME TO MEET HER HERE TO RETELL HER SIDE OF THAT HEARTBREAKING MORNING. CONFUSED? I WAS SUPER CONFUSED BY HOW I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND IT. FOUR YEARS LATER, NO ONE HAS BEEN ARRESTED FOR WATKINS MURDER, AND WINSTON-SALEM POLICE SAY THERE HAS BEEN NO NEW INFORMATION SINCE THAT ORIGINAL POLICE REPORT. DREA SAYS THEY SHOULD BE DOING MORE. I’LL TAKE THIS A LITTLE MORE SERIOUSLY. I’M TRYING TO TAKE THE NEXT LIGHT INTO SOMETHING I CAN DO. NO UPDATES. DON’T CALL THE FAMILY. DON’T REACH OUT. HEY, HOW YOU GUYS DOING? I’M SORRY WE HAVEN’T FIGURED OUT ANYTHING YET. NO COMMUNICATION. DREA SAYS SHE IS NOT ABLE TO MOVE ON SINCE HER FIANCE’S KILLER STILL HAS NOT BEEN ARRESTED. AND EVERY BIRTHDAY AND ANNIVERSARY IS A REMINDER OF WHO WATKINS WAS TO HER, THEIR KIDS AND HIS FAMILY. I JUST DON’T WANT NOBODY TO FORGET ABOUT HIM. I WANT THIS CASE TO GO COLD ON THE SAKE OF NOT EVEN ME, BUT FOR HIS KIDS. THEY DESERVED JUSTICE, AND I MAKE SURE THEY REMEMBER THEIR FATHER. FOR HIM BEING HIM AND LOVING HIS SMILE IS SO IS ENERGY. JUST RIGHT UP TH

Every year on April 1, Dria Watkins said she feels like her body shuts down. It's the anniversary of the death of her then-fiancé, Jerry Watkins Jr.The 28-year-old was found shot to death in a yard in Winston-Salem in the early morning hours of that Monday in 2019. It was behind the house at 200 E. Clemmonsville Road, just down the road from where Watkins lived.Dria Watkins said she got a call from her fiancé's aunt that morning about Watkins getting into a fight and she was told to get to the neighborhood quickly."I felt it was bad," Dria said, recalling pulling off the highway to see cop cars flooding the front of the neighborhood entrance. "I couldn't even turn in. I stopped and I just lost it."In the days after, Dria said police asked her less about the events leading up to her fiancé's death and more about his involvement with drugs."He wasn't in no trouble, he wasn't a troublemaker," she said. "They were asking, 'Was he was in the streets?' and things like that. But he was a family man. He worked. He wasn't no bad guy. He was real caring and loving. If you knew him, you would love him."Dria works to honor Watkins' life by keeping his memory alive for his kids, including their child they had together, who is now four-years-old."I tell them, 'Daddy is always with you,'" she said. "Remember him for being loving. And his smile; his energy just would light up a room."She also wants to honor Watkins by getting justice for him, pushing police to find his killer. Four years since the original police report was filed, Winston-Salem Police told WXII they had no new information in this investigation."There's really no communication, no updates from police," Dria Watkins said. "I just don't want nobody to forget about him. I don't want this case to go cold. For the sake of not even me, but for his kids. They deserve justice; his mom, dad, siblings. He was just gone too soon."Anyone with any information regarding this investigation is asked to call the Winston-Salem Police Department at 336-773-7700.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. —

Every year on April 1, Dria Watkins said she feels like her body shuts down. It's the anniversary of the death of her then-fiancé, Jerry Watkins Jr.

The 28-year-old was found shot to death in a yard in Winston-Salem in the early morning hours of that Monday in 2019. It was behind the house at 200 E. Clemmonsville Road, just down the road from where Watkins lived.

Dria Watkins said she got a call from her fiancé's aunt that morning about Watkins getting into a fight and she was told to get to the neighborhood quickly.

"I felt it was bad," Dria said, recalling pulling off the highway to see cop cars flooding the front of the neighborhood entrance. "I couldn't even turn in. I stopped and I just lost it."

In the days after, Dria said police asked her less about the events leading up to her fiancé's death and more about his involvement with drugs.

"He wasn't in no trouble, he wasn't a troublemaker," she said. "They were asking, 'Was he was in the streets?' and things like that. But he was a family man. He worked. He wasn't no bad guy. He was real caring and loving. If you knew him, you would love him."

Dria works to honor Watkins' life by keeping his memory alive for his kids, including their child they had together, who is now four-years-old.

"I tell them, 'Daddy is always with you,'" she said. "Remember him for being loving. And his smile; his energy just would light up a room."

She also wants to honor Watkins by getting justice for him, pushing police to find his killer. Four years since the original police report was filed, Winston-Salem Police told WXII they had no new information in this investigation.

"There's really no communication, no updates from police," Dria Watkins said. "I just don't want nobody to forget about him. I don't want this case to go cold. For the sake of not even me, but for his kids. They deserve justice; his mom, dad, siblings. He was just gone too soon."

Anyone with any information regarding this investigation is asked to call the Winston-Salem Police Department at 336-773-7700.

'I don't want this case to go cold': Calls for justice continue four years after Winston-Salem murder

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