Luther Watkins Takes the Stand to Tell Jury Why He Killed Tuscaloosa Investigator in 2019

Luther Bernard Watkins, Jr. took the stand to testify on his own behalf in the longest day of testimony in the capital murder trial against him on Thursday.

Watkins told jurors that he had a gun but was not wielding it, and was just running away when Tuscaloosa Police Investigator Dornell Cousette shot him in the back "for no reason" in September 2019.

He said he collapsed to the floor of his friend's house, pulled a gun from his waistband, and shot Cousette to prevent the officer from killing him.

The surprise appearance on the stand by Watkins capped a very long day of testimony and cross-examination of defense witnesses.

Thursday began with the defense calling bail bondsman Napoleon McEwen and our chronological coverage of the trial resumes there.

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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Napoleon McEwen

The first defense witness to testify on Thursday was Napoleon McEwen.

He explained to the jury that when Luther Watkins was arrested and charged with committing first-degree robbery in 2017 and 2018, it was McEwen who bonded him out of the Tuscaloosa County Jail.

For those unfamiliar with the bond process, anyone who is charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. After someone has been booked in jail, they have the right to be released on bond. That is an agreement that allows them to go free as long as they follow a set of rules and return to court when called to answer the charges against them.

To ensure a defendant returns to court, they are required to pay a bond, or bail, which is forfeited if they fail to appear.

Bail bondsmen like McEwen and another player in this cast, Ed Giles, work with those in jail or their families to post bond on their behalf in return for a payment, which McEwen said is usually 10 percent of the total bond.

When everything works out, the bondsman gets back the larger sum they put up to ensure the defendant returns to court, on top of the smaller fee they were paid by the defendant or their family.

If someone on bond fails to appear in court, the bail bondsman risks losing the larger sum they paid to secure their release from jail. McEwen said that was the case in 2019, when Watkins was out on bond and had failed to appear in court.

McEwen had a financial incentive to capture him, and he testified that he began searching for Luther Watkins in August and got a tip from a street informant that Watkins was staying at a friend's house on 33rd Avenue in West Tuscaloosa.

After receiving the info, McEwen said he contacted the other bail bondsman, Ed Giles, whom he described as someone he occasionally pays as a "bounty hunter," but not an employee.

The two men linked up at Sonic in the West End, McEwen said, and on the day of the deadly shooting, they traveled together to a tire shop in Northport and successfully captured another fugitive. McEwen said they rode back across the river together in Giles' truck to drop off their man at the Tuscaloosa Police Department for booking.

McEwen said he paid Giles for his assistance and planned to work with him again to try to capture Luther Watkins as soon as they left the police department.

Instead, he said, Giles asked the desk attendant how to reach Dornell Cousette and told McEwen he needed to run to meet with the investigator to tell him where Luther Watkins was.

McEwen said Giles left him at the police department, which was not their plan, without a ride.

He said that about 30 minutes later, he was still standing with the desk sergeant at the Tuscaloosa Police Department when he heard a call over the radio: "Officer down!" Officer down!"

"I said damn, that sounds like Ed Giles!" McEwen testified.

Unbeknownst to McEwen, Cousette and Giles had gone after Watkins without him, and soon after, the police department was locked down as TPD responded to the shooting of one of their own.

Jeff Goudeau

Forensic investigator Jeff Goudeau testified twice for the defense on Thursday. Early in the morning, he introduced himself and shared his credentials as a forensic expert with the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab. He also runs his own independent company, Jeff Goudeau Forensics.

The purpose of his short testimony on Thursday morning was to set up the next witness, Joshua Cohen, who runs a 3D modeling and animation company in Portland, Oregon.

Goudeau explained that Cohen's company, Fat Pencil Studio, made a 3D recreation of the crime scene using a combination of satellite imagery, crime scene photos, and measurements taken by Goudeau himself in 2024.

Joshua Cohen

Cohen then took the stand to explain the work he and his employees do at Fat Pencil, a graphic design firm that creates exhibits for use in criminal and civil trials.

He said he has recreated more than 100 crime scenes using 3D software and given testimony more than 30 times.

He also explained that their scene recreation was a living thing that could be updated with new information as it became available. Cohen said details learned as recently as Wednesday during other witness testimony were used to animate the scene as accurately as possible.

He stressed that the goal was not to give an exact account of the shooting itself, but rather to more effectively demonstrate spatial relationships. Using measurements from Goudeau, Cohen said the 3D model had to-scale representations of the yard, sidewalk, porch, and living room where everything unfolded, and major items of interest, such as pieces of furniture for doors, were also measured and accounted for when possible.

Jurors did not see the full animation of the events unfolding, but instead the defense shared 12 screenshots - still images showing the 3D models advance through the action of the shooting as Goudeau took the stand again.

Jeff Goudeau

Although Cohen and his company created the 3D recreation that jurors saw parts of on Thursday, Jeff Goudeau explained the narrative significance of the screenshots.

The first two 3D models showed the 33rd Avenue home from the exterior and from a bird's-eye view of its six rooms. The next 10 or so included stick figures representing the people on the scene that night in 2019.

In freeze frames, those screenshots showed Giles and Cousette arrive, then Watkins stand up from the card table where he was sitting to run inside the home with Cousette chasing close behind.

The seventh screenshot showed Investigator Cousette shooting Watkins in the back. In the image jurors saw, Watkins was not holding a gun.

Another showed Watkins on the floor, aiming a gun up at Cousette as the officer stood over him to deliver a second shot.

On cross-examination, District Attorney Hays Webb had both Cohen and Goudeau testify that no one knows exactly what happened when Watkins entered the home and Cousette chased inside.

Goudeau acknowledged that Watkins could have pulled a gun as soon as he crossed the threshold and entered the home and twisted to point it at Cousette.

Still, the 3D model had him unarmed when he was first shot because no witness has testified that Watkins had a gun in his hand when he ran inside.

Chief Dan Buskin

The sixth defense witness was retired police Chief Dan Buskin, who has led police departments in Crystal City, Missouri; Madison, Alabama; and Greenville, Texas.

As a law enforcement leader from outside the Tuscaloosa Police Department, Buskin said he believed Cousette acted inappropriately when he tried to apprehend Watkins.

Buskin said having been told by two different sources that no backup was available, Cousette should have found "another day and another way" to capture Watkins instead of pressing the issue with just Giles, a bail bondsman with a Taser.

Chief Buskin talked about when an officer should draw his weapon and when force is justified, and also criticized Cousette for shooting Watkins without knowing who else was in the home. Other witness testimony places two women and at least one infant within a few steps of the front door when the shots were fired.

Buskin also said TPD's use-of-force policy has not been updated since 2006, and may have led Cousette to believe he was justified in shooting Watkins in the back for fleeing alone.

Under cross-examination, DA Webb had Buskin acknowledge that there is no TPD policy prohibiting an officer from conducting a solo arrest.

Although Webb acknowledged the arrest may have been dangerous and against advice, he suggested it was possible Cosuette cared more for the good of the community than his own safety.

Buskin agreed with Webb that it was possbile Cousette was trying to take a dangerous robbery and assault suspect off the street. But he also told defense attorney Christopher Daniel that Cousette may have been engaged in "unprofessional conduct" and teaming up with Giles.

Webb also had Buskin acknowledge that Watkins could have been drawing a weapon when Cousette shot him, and that would have been justified.

"Sometimes you can shoot first and not stop the threat," Webb said. "Sometimes you can shoot first and still not act in time to save your own life."

Luther Bernard Watkins, Jr.

After Buskin was dismissed, Judge Brad Almond met with Luther Watkins behind closed doors for some time and advised him of his rights regarding whether he should take the stand.

Is generally unusual for murder suspects to testify at their own trials. Doing so waives their right to remain silent, and after answering questions from their own attorneys, they must also truthfully testify under cross-examination from the prosecution.

Still, Watkins said he understood his rights and wanted to tell the jury his side of the story, and he took the stand late on Thursday afternoon.

Watkins testified that he had been sleeping in a tent in the backyard of Nannie Chambers' house on 33rd Avenue, where the shooting took place, because he knew he had warrants and was trying to evade arrest.

He said that after getting breakfast at McDonald's on the morning of September 16th, 2019, he and his friends spent most of the day playing spades at a table in front of the porch at the Chambers house.

Watkins said in the early evening, two cars pulled up, and he saw Officer Dornell Cousette jump out of an unmarked, black Ford Taurus with a gun drawn. Cousette yelled, "Don't you run!" he said.

Watkins said he ran anyway, scared of Cousette and the man emerging from the second car with a weapon in his hand. That was Giles, armed with a Taser, but Watkins testified he did not know who the man was or what weapon he was carrying at the time.

Watkins said he ran up the two steps of the front porch and pushed the front door open with his left hand, where he claims he stumbled as he ran inside.

Watkins admitted that he was carrying a Hi-Point 9-millimeter handgun in the waistband of the shorts he was wearing, tucked behind a fanny pack. But he testified under oath that he did not draw it as he ran inside.

He testified that as he stumbled into the house, Cousette shot him in the back, knocking him to the ground on his stomach. Watkins told the jury he rolled over, drew his gun, and saw Cousette standing over him to fire a second time. Watkins then admitted to shooting Cousette.

Cousette's second shot struck Watkins in the chest, and the only bullet Watkins fired hit Cousette in his upper lip, just below the nostril. Experts have testified that the shot was instantly incapacitating.

Watkins said he then stood up and knew he needed immediate medical attention for his two gunshot wounds. He said he looked to run back out the front door, but saw Giles there with a weapon in hand.

With that exit blocked, Watkins said he stepped over Cousette and ran out the back of Nannie Chambers' house through the only other exterior door.

From there, he ran to a friend's house on nearby 18th Street, where he dropped his gun in a toolbox in the backyard and caught a ride to DCH's Northport Medical Center.

Watkins sold the jury that he did not disassemble, wipe down, or throw away his gun; he simply stashed it because he knew he needed to go to the hospital, where it would not be allowed. He gave the same explanation for dropping five bullets in the hospital parking lot.

Watkins testified he made it inside the emergency room and fainted, and by the time he woke up, he was handcuffed to a hospital bed and has not left police custody since.

He told the jury several times that he was afraid for his life, and only shot Cousette to prevent the officer from killing him.

Under cross-examination, Chief Assistant District Attorney Paula Whitley Abernathy asked Watkins if the thought of putting his hands up and surrendering to Cousette ever crossed his mind, and Watkins said it did not.

He acknowledged that he knew he was wanted and was so concerned about it that he was sleeping in a tent to evade law enforcement.

Whitley Abernathy also pointed out that a condition of Watkins' bond was that he not possess any firearms, and that simply having the Hi-Point that day in 2019 violated his agreement with the court.

Whitley Abernathy pressed Watkins on what he said on a jail phone, which jurors heard earlier in the week, when he insulted Investigator Cousette and also claimed that he was not responsible for shooting him.

She had Watkins acknowledge that he told family members, "That bitch should have killed me," and pointed out that when he talked to them, he did not say he was scared for his life and had to act. He lied and said he was not at the scene.

Court adjourned for the day at about 4:45 p.m., the latest dismissal so far this week.

It is possible the defense will call more witnesses on Friday morning, but the defendant is often the last witness to testify in their own trials.

After the defense rests, both sides will present their closing arguments to the jury, which will then begin deliberations.

If Watkins is convicted of capital murder, the only sentencing outcomes available are life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. District Attorney Webb said before the trial that the state intends to seek execution if it wins a conviction.

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