Thread: Mother speaks on son`s slaying

Mother speaks on son's slaying
By Tim Archuleta (Contact)
Sunday, June 1, 2008




Shelley Watson warned her 16-year-old son that street fighting was dangerous - perhaps even deadly.

"I told him people fight dirty," she recalled. "Someday, someone is going to have a weapon. I told him that eventually something was going to happen."

A mother's intuition is seldom wrong. Randy Watson found that out on East 13th Street in San Angelo.

Late one night in early December, Watson, who had built a reputation as a good fighter, was fatally wounded in a vicious street fight with four rivals, police say.

Watson, who was expecting a one-on-one fight, was holding his own until he was staggered by blows to his face and head with a crowbar, witnesses said. He was chasing one of his attackers, his mother said, when he realized he had been stabbed in the chest.

Watson, a junior at Central High School, fell to the ground from a knife wound to his heart.

During the attack, Shelley Watson said, no one came to her son's aid.

Today, she is taking up that charge, determined to see that her son's attackers answer for what they're charged with doing. She also is working to set the record straight about what led to her son's death.

Shelley, an Army sergeant stationed at Goodfellow Air Force Base at the time, disputes early reports that her son was killed in a gang-related attack.

San Angelo police, who didn't immediately release a motive for the attack, say Watson is right.

Homicide Detective Michael Gaeta is seeking murder charges against four men in Watson's death. The suspects, Pedro Baca, 43; Pedro Baca Jr., 21; Anthony Andrew Baca, 19; and Robert Anthony Niera, 18, remain at the Tom Green County jail awaiting trial in the coming months.

Authorities said Watson's reputation of not backing down from a fight led one of the attackers to bring others to the fight because he feared he wouldn't be able to handle Watson alone.

"The police knew that these are bad guys that shouldn't have been on the street," Watson said. "They tried to write it off as gang-related."

Police Chief Tim Vasquez denies he ever connected the Watson homicide to gang violence. He said a Standard-Times story published Dec. 8, three days after the attack, inaccurately linked his comments about gang activity and Watson's slaying.

"I was very upset with the whole thing," Vasquez said.

The fallout from Watson's slaying was immediate in San Angelo.

At Central High School, extra security was added for two days. School leaders said there was a "heightened concern" for student safety at the city's largest high school.

No incidents were reported on campus after Watson's death.

Still, concerns about a worsening gang problem in San Angelo were raised during this year's chief of police race.

Shelley Watson said it was wrong that her son's life ended in the shadows of a false report that gang involvement led to his death.

"San Angelo's got no real gangs," she said.

Watson described her son as a "military brat." The family moved to San Angelo in August 2004 when the Army sent Shelley to Goodfellow Air Force Base.

She acknowledges that her son wouldn't back down from a fight. He was 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighed about 230 pounds. He was frequently challenged to fights.

Watson said she tried to channel his fighting skills to the boxing ring and repeatedly warned him about street fighting.

"It was really bad before the boxing," she said. "It taught him discipline."

San Angelo boxing trainer Sel Trejo said he remembers when Watson and his mom came to his club last summer to inquire about the possibility of Randy Watson taking boxing lessons.

"His mom was looking for another activity to put him in," Trejo said.

"He was interested and wanted to give it a try."

Trejo, who trains in Olympic-style boxing, said Watson boxed in the heavyweight junior division. He said boxers are taught a code of conduct.

"I tell the kids when they start, 'We're not teaching you to fight,'" Trejo said. "That's not what boxing is about."

Fight challenges outside the ring are discouraged, but they do happen, he said.

Shelley Watson said that's what was behind her son's attack.

Police confirmed that Watson was first challenged to a fight at his job at a local restaurant. He declined the fight because he was at work.

After work that same day, Watson went to the East 13th Street address to answer the challenge, his mother said.

"One guy was supposed to fight him," she said. "Randy fought all of them by himself. These guys were adults. He got hit on the head by a crowbar, stabbed and was left to die."

Tom Green County Assistant District Attorney Bryan Clayton, who is handling the Watson case, declined to comment.

Attorney Brad Haralson, who is representing Anthony Andrew Baca, said, "I hope that any pretrial publicity doesn't prevent the defendants from getting a fair trial in Tom Green County."

Attorneys for the other defendants did not return calls seeking comment.

Shelley has since moved from San Angelo. She was transferred to North Carolina after her son's death, but she returns to West Texas whenever a defendant in her son's case has a court appearance.

She buried her son in Lewiston, N.C., where the graves of Randy Watson's great-grandparents are.

"I'm still trying to figure it all out," Shelley said. "I'm at the point where I want to put the blame on someone.

"My son is not here to represent himself. I'm going to be the face and voice of my son because he's going to get justice."

Maribel Salazar contributed to this story.


Well were these scumbags Gangsters or illegals


http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2008/ju ... s-slaying/

gangsters or illegals? probably both

haven't ya noticed, they never fight fair--they fight in a group--never one on one because underneath that machismo they are COWARDS.

16 yr. old should not have such a deire to fight . And boxing lessons are for aggressive type personalities . If I paid for a self defense course for my kid ,it would not be boxing, more like Kung Fu or maybe kick boxing . Boxing is not self defense ,it's a sport .

These puks should all pay ,but they will get off with light sentences more than likley.