Watkins charged with attempted murder; was asleep on couch when arrested

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

A Cassville man has been arrested by Barry County Sheriff’s Office deputies for charges in McDonald County, including attempted murder.

David Watkins, 40, of Cassville, is charged in McDonald County with first-degree assault (equal to attempted murder) and armed criminal action.

Watkins was wanted by the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office for an alleged incident on June 25 in McDonald County. According to a press release from the Barry County Sheriff’s Office, on Oct. 4, the Office was notified by McDonald County that Watkins may be at a residence in the Cassville area and had allegedly been making threats to harm law enforcement and was believed to be in possession of a firearm.

According to the release, Watkins was located at the residence he was believed to be at, where he was taken into custody. Danny Boyd, Barry County sheriff, said deputies were allowed into the residence by another occupant and arrested Watkins while sleeping on a couch.

According to a probable cause statement filed by Blake Barrett, deputy sheriff of McDonald County, Watkins was allegedly involved in a physical altercation where he allegedly struck the victim with a 12-gauge shotgun, breaking the victim’s arm. The victim also reported being struck in the head with the firearm, suffering injuries to the front and back of his head, fractured eye sockets and bruising on his back.

Watkins is being held in the McDonald County jail on no bond. A bond review hearing is set for today (Wednesday) at 10 a.m. in the courtroom of Judge John LePage.

Rob Evenson, McDonald County sheriff, said his deputies had been staking out specific locations in Anderson and Goodman where they anticipated Watkins to be. Extended efforts to arrest him were spurred by tips from the community showing Watkins making social media threats for multiple weeks to harm authorities should they attempt to arrest him.

Evenson said no charges will be filed for the alleged threats, as Watkins did not act on them.