State Rests in Murder Trial of Luther Watkins, Case for Self-Defense Begins

State prosecutors rested their case against Luther Watkins, Jr. in the murder trial against him on Wednesday, and his attorneys began making their case that it was self-defense when he killed a Tuscaloosa police officer in 2019.

As the Thread has reported, the state spent the last 3 days interviewing witnesses and presenting evidence in its attempt to convict Luther Watkins of capital murder.

District Attorney Hayes Webb and lead prosecutor Paula Whitley Abernathy have argued that Watkins was a wanted fugitive who ran away when Tuscaloosa Police Investigator Dornell Cousette attempted to arrest him outside a home in West Tuscaloosa in September 2019.

They say Watkins ran inside the home and engaged in a gunfight with Cousette, who shot Watkins twice before a bullet struck him in the upper lip, incapacitating and fatally wounding him.

The defense is expected to argue that Cousette was acting without backup and against advice when he chose to pursue Watkins into the home and shot the young man in the back before standing over him and firing a second shot at almost exactly the same time Watkins returned fire.

The state's last three witnesses took the stand on Wednesday morning before District Attorney Webb rested the prosecution's case. Now, the defense will call its own witnesses to testify on Watkins's behalf.

Wednesday began with Whitley Abernathy questioning Hannah Parkinson, a forensic biologist.

No electronic devices are being allowed inside Judge Brad Almond's courtroom for the duration of the trial, so the reporting below is done without the benefit of a transcript.

READ MORE: Catch up on extensive coverage of the case and trial so far at this landing page.

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Forensic Biologist Hannah Parkinson

Hannah Parkinson, a forensic biologist for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, testified about analyzing blood samples taken from the scene of the shooting and other pieces of evidence.

She testified that blood collected from the magazine of Luther Watkins' 9-millimeter Hi-Point handgun positively matched blood found at the back of the West Tuscaloosa home where the shooting took place. It also matched blood collected from the Chevy Tahoe that a friend used to take Watkins to DCH's Northport Medical Center the night it happened.

Her DNA evidence links Watkins to the gun that killed Cousette, the crime scene, and his arrival at the Northport hospital - though the defense has not argued that Watkins did not shoot the TPD officer.

Firearms Expert Nick Drake

Nicholas Drake, also from the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, talked about the ballistic evidence in this case.

He positively matched two spent shell casings to Cousette's Glock 17 service weapon - one on the ground in the home, and one inside his gun that failed to extract after his second shot.

He also matched a single shell casing to Watkins's Hi-Point, and some of the ammunition removed from his magazine matched the five bullets recovered from the parking lot of the Northport hospital.

Drake testified for a while under cross-examination about Cousette's second and final shot. Although his Glock successfully fired and a bullet struck Watkins in his shoulder, the spent shell casing from that gunshot did not eject from Cousette's weapon and jammed up inside it.

Drake testified that the gun functioned and ejected shells during testing at a forensic lab in Montgomery. Like some other witnesses, Drake speculated that the failure to eject was caused by Cousette "limp-wristing." That can happen when the shooter relaxes his grip on the handgun just as a round is fired. The entire gun recoils backward instead of just the slide at the top of the firearm, and there is not enough force to throw the slide back fully, eject the spent shell casing from the gun, and load a fresh bullet into the chamber, readying the weapon to fire again.

Chief Medical Examiner Edward Reedy

The state's final witness before resting was Dr. Ed Reedy, the chief medical examiner for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.

Reedy testified about the autopsy of investigator Dornell Coussete after his fatal shooting in September 2019. It is important to note that Reedy did not perform the autopsy - it was conducted by Dr. Stephen Boudreau, who died in 2023.

Instead, Reedy prepared for trial by reviewing photographs and records of Cousette's body to draw his own conclusions, then comparing them to Boudreau's 2019 autopsy.

After a warning from Judge Brad Almond that the subject material would be gruesome and difficult to digest, the state shared some of those autopsy photos for Reedy to discuss.

An X-ray of his skull also showed bullet fragments in his brain, sinus cavity, and skull.

Jurors also saw two images of Investigator Cousette's fatal gunshot wound, then a picture looking inside his skull after it had been opened and his brain removed. That third image illustrated where a bullet fragment was embedded in the dense bone at the base of his skull.

Both Reedy and Boudreau concluded that Cousette's cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, and his manner of death was homicide. Reedy noted this is a medical term, not a legal one. It only means that the death in question was caused by one person killing another.

In wrapping up his testimony about Cousette's injury, Reedy explained that the bullet fragments entering his brain would have been instantly incapacitating.

That could explain his relaxed grip - the "limp-wristing" - at the time his second shot was fired, which caused the failure to eject in his Glock.

It also conclusively establishes the timeline that Cousette shot Watkins in the back first, and then his second shot was essentially simultaneous to the only gunshot from Luther Watkins.

Reedy also testified about the two gunshot injuries that Watkins suffered during the 2019 gunfight. Reedy said the first bullet struck Watkins just right of the center of his back, but traveled at a sharp and shallow angle, tearing through his skin about an inch deep and coming to rest in his shoulder.

He said the wound channel, stippling on his skin caused by Cousette's firearm, and other forensic factors show Watkins was not standing or running straight away from Cousette at the time the first shot was fired.

Using a mannequin dummy, District Attorney Hays Webb asked Reedy if it was possible Watkins had his back to Cosette but was bent over and turning his head, torso, and arm backward, as if reaching for or pointing a gun when he was shot in the back. Reedy agreed that it was possible, given where the bullet ended up.

On cross-examination from the defense, Reedy also acknowledged that it was possible Watkins had tripped and was on all fours or in some other non-aggressive position.

At 1:40 p.m. on Wednesday, the state prosecution rested its case against Luther Watkins, Jr..

A few minutes later, the defense team representing Watkins took over and began calling their own witnesses on his behalf.

The attorneys are Scott Brower, Justin Forrester, and Chris Daniel, who have taken turns cross-examining witnesses during the state's case.

The defense called two witnesses today, one of whom struggled to recall much about the case and another whose credibility was questioned on cross-examination.

Investigator Lonny Boshell

The first defense witness was Lonny Boshell, a retired investigator who spent 20 years with TPD and 19 with the University of Alabama Police Department.

During part of his stretch with UAPD, he was assigned to the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, and he was the lead investigator on Cousette's killing.

The defense questioned Boshell about the case and items belonging to Cousette, but Boshell left the VCU in 2020 and retired from UAPD last spring. He said he hadn't reviewed the case in 6 years and couldn't recall many of its specifics.

He said he did not remember if Cousette's duty belt was recovered after the shooting, or his wallet, or his personal cell phone.

He said he could not remember how many people the VCU interviewed after the shooting, or the details of the deposition he wrote charging Watkins with capital murder.

Boshell answered that he could not recall, did not remember, or had no memory of an answer at least nine times before he was dismissed by the defense.

Kevonte Chambers

The last witness called to testify on Wednesday was Kevonte Chambers, a friend of Luther Watkins, Jr., and the grandson of Nannie Chambers.

The shooting happened inside Nannie Chambers' house, and Kevonte was one of five young men playing cards and getting ready to barbecue on the front porch just before.

Inside, Chambers' grandmother was charging her phone in a bedroom, and his mother, Felicia, was in the living room holding an infant child. He also testified that his 1-year-old baby was on a couch in the living room.

The young man testified that his back was to 33rd Avenue and that he was facing the home's front door when Investigator Dornell Cousette and bail bondsman Ed Giles arrived, though Chambers did not know either man by name.

Kevonte Chambers said Cousette got out of an unmarked car with a gun drawn and pointed it at the front door as Watkins ran inside. He also testified that he did not see Luther draw his handgun on the porch as he ran inside.

He said he saw a red laser on Watkins's back, which could have come from the Taser carried by Ed Giles.

Chambers said he never heard Cousette yell anything but "Don't you run!" as he got out of the car - he never called out "Gun!" or ordered Watkins to drop a weapon.

Although other witnesses have said all the shooting took place inside the house, Chambers said he is certain the first shot was fired when Cousette was still on the porch and jogging inside after Watkins.

The front door opens into the living room, where Cousette's second and Watkins's only shot was fired - that's where Kevonte Chambers said his mom and two babies were resting.

A withering cross-examination from District Attorney Hays Webb called Chambers' credibility into question, though.

Chambers testified that he willingly cooperated with the police after the investigation, and Webb showed that was a half-truth at best.

The state shared video and audio recorded in a VCU interrogation room showing Dominique Thomas calling Kevonte Chambers and urging him to come to the sheriff's office, where the investigative unit is housed, to answer questions about the shooting.

In the recording, Chambers can be heard using colorful language, telling Thomas it wasn't his problem - he claimed he wasn't in the yard at the time of the shooting and wasn't going to come downtown to cooperate with the police.

Then, an investigator can be seen grabbing the phone and telling Kevonte Chambers that his grandmother, Nannie Chambers, could not leave the VCU until he showed up to be questioned.

Only then did Chambers come downtown and talk with investigators, Webb said.

Webb asked Chambers whether Watkins was his friend, and when the witness agreed, the DA asked whether he was testifying only to keep Watkins out of trouble.

Chambers said no - he told the truth to investigators in 2019 and was testifying truthfully now.

The court went into recess at about 3 p.m. and will resume at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Overnight, Judge Brad Almond will ponder whether to allow the defense to show the jury a 3D animation made last year for Watkins's unsuccessful pre-trial immunity hearing. He heard arguments for and against the evidence after the jury was dismissed on Wednesday afternoon.

The defense wants to admit the 3D video, which shows stick-figure representations of the parties in this incident going through the shooting step by step.

Having seen the video last year, it shows Cousette shooting Watkins in the back as he runs away, and District Attorney Hays Webb said testimony from Reedy proves it didn't happen that way. He said showing the jury the 3D video would confuse them, and they might interpret the animation as fact.

The defense essentially argued their 3D video is no different than the dummy mannequin Webb himself used to suggest Watkins could have been hunched over to draw or point a weapon at Cousette.

Almond will decide how to handle the evidence as the defense continues its work Thursday morning.

For ongoing daily coverage of the murder trial and other crime and courts news from around West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.