February 28, 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is being written to seek justice for 2 people who were brutally murdered. It is
also being written to expose the laziness and lack of ethics of Caddo Parish District Attorney James
Stewart and Special Prosecutor Bill Edwards. District Attorney Stewart and Special Prosecutor
Edwards need to be held accountable for their negligence in this case and many other past cases
where they chose to pursue easy plea deals with the murderer in this case, rather than do their jobs
and fight for justice. It is our hope that this story reaches everyone who can make a positive change
and correct the course of this case before it is too late.
BACKGROUND:

On November 8, 2018, Kelly and Heather Jose took their children to the St. Vincent Mall
in Shreveport, Louisiana. Heather (33) and Kelly (42) had their whole lives ahead of them. They
had a family and were actively involved in their church and community. Kelly was also a member
of the Air Force Reserves. While they were innocently spending family time at the mall in their
own community, they had no idea they were being stalked by a man named Dewayne Watkins.
Watkins is a life-long criminal who had recently been released from custody due to a negligent
plea agreement that was made between the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office and Watkins’
defense attorney.
Watkins hunted Heather, Kelly, and their children as they walked from store to store. His
pursuit of them was captured on surveillance cameras throughout the mall. When Heather and
Kelly left, Watkins approached them in the parking lot and asked to use Heather’s cell phone.
Heather allowed the man to use her phone. Heather and Kelly’s servant hearts led them to selflessly
offer help to a stranger. Watkins also asked for a ride and Heather and Kelly agreed. They said
goodbye to their children, who up to that point witnessed the entire interaction with Watkins. Their
children left in another vehicle, not knowing it would be the last time they would see Heather and
Kelly.
Heather and Kelly allowed Watkins into their vehicle and in exchange for their good deed,
Watkins shot and killed Kelly with a handgun. Watkins kidnapped Heather, who had just witnessed
her husband’s murder, and made her to drive to an ATM where he forced her to empty her bank
account. This was also captured on camera. Watkins forced Heather drive to the ATM with Kelly’s
body still in the passenger seat. He then forced her to drive to an abandoned house on Penick
Street in Shreveport where Watkins shot and killed Heather. Unsatisfied with these horrendous
murders, Watkins took even more gruesome action by pouring gasoline on Heather and Kelly and
setting fire to their bodies.

When the Shreveport Police Department located Watkins, he barricaded himself inside a
residence and refused to surrender for a 6-hour standoff. Watkins tried to escape on foot and was
ultimately taken into custody.
In March of 2019, Caddo Parish District Attorney James Stewart made the decision to file
a death penalty case against Watkins based on the egregious facts of this double-murder and with
the overwhelming support and gratitude of Heather’s family.
PRESS RELEASE FROM CADDO PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY JAMES STEWART:

On February 24, 2021, Heather’s family received a phone call that destroyed their hope
and belief in justice. They were notified that District Attorney Stewart had unilaterally decided to
drop the death penalty case and only seek life in prison for Watkins. This news devastated
Heather’s family. They are being told to accept the fact that Watkins is now being blessed with
the opportunity to live out his life, able to receive visits from family and friends, despite the crimes
he committed when he sadistically took the lives of two innocent people who showed him
kindness. This denial of justice is unacceptable and unethical.
Heather’s family asked how this could happen and why. They were told that the
Shreveport/Caddo Parish community doesn’t support the death penalty and that District Attorney
James Stewart doesn’t believe he can get a unanimous jury vote. To top it off, the DA’s office
used COVID-19 as an excuse to shirk their duty to obtain justice. How can District Attorney
Stewart decide to drop the death penalty without even trying? Special Prosecutor Edwards
attempted to persuade the family by claiming that their last successful death penalty case was in
the 1980’s. When confronted with the fact that their last successful death penalty case was in 2010,
Special Prosecutor Edwards was clueless. He tried to recover with the lame response, “Well our
last unsuccessful death penalty case was in 2019.” Again, Special Prosecutor Edwards was
confronted with the fact that this 2019 case was tried in a completely different community, another
fact to which he had no rebuttal. The attempts to deceive Heather’s family did not work. It is a
travesty that the victims’ family has done more research into the law and legal procedure than the
DA’s office.
Heather’s family has a response to being told that the community does not support the
death penalty. Do you know what we hope the community doesn’t support?
o People who go to the mall with their kids, but don’t make it home alive.
o People who do a good deed for someone and get shot in the head for it, and then set
on fire.
o People who have the power to hold criminals accountable to the greatest extent of
the law, but instead take the easy road for the sake of their pride, quick stats, or
their political gain.
o People who put criminals’ rights above victim’s rights.
o People who don’t care about the innocent people they are sworn to serve.
Special Prosecutor Edwards told Heather’s family that “we” (the DA’s office) are going to
file a motion to dismiss the death penalty case. They never asked the family’s opinion or how
they felt about such a ridiculous act of leniency. They’re not even waiting for the defense attorney
to ask for it. They’re dismissing the death penalty all on their own and they’re doing it more than
six months before the trial. One has to wonder what the motivation is. Heather’s family cited and
invoked Victim’s Rights Law section 1844(D) of the Louisiana State Constitution. This law
REQUIRES the prosecutor to consult with and obtain the view of the victim’s family PRIOR to
making a decision. Special Prosecutor Edwards stated, “Well this is us letting you know that this
is what we are doing.” Apparently, the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s Office is above the law
and can violate it with ZERO consequences.
THE PATTERN OF NEGLIGENCE BY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY:
Watkins is a career criminal with a RAP sheet documenting more than fifteen years of
preying on the innocent. He was arrested at least twenty times before committing these heinous
murders for a myriad of drug and property crimes, as well as repeated violent offenses including
resisting arrest, domestic violence and unsafely discharging a firearm. In 2009, he was sentenced
to ten years hard labor, a prison sentence, for illegally possessing a firearm. After serving less
than five years of that sentence, he was released from custody. Watkins escalated his evil acts
after getting out of prison. In 2014, he sexually assaulted two different children. Even though he
ADMITTED to those horrendous acts, the Caddo Parrish District Attorney’s Office dismissed the
sex offenses Watkins was charged with and allowed him to plead to a non-violent, non-sex crime
offense. The DA’s office sold the case against those children for a ONE YEAR prison
sentence. Had the District Attorney done his job and sent a child molester to prison for CHILD
MOLESTING and not for indecency, perhaps those two innocent children would have achieved
justice for the demon who assaulted them. Had the District Attorney done his job and sent a child
molester to prison, this monster would have been in prison in 2018 and unable to murder an
innocent couple who were just trying to be helpful.

The hidden tragedy in this story is that the very official elected to uphold justice in Caddo
Parrish is responsible for putting a murderous, violent, pedophile back on the streets to terrorize
the community who depends on that District Attorney to protect them.
This pattern of behavior is not only upsetting to Heather and Kelly’s family, but to Caddo
Parish Sheriff Steve Prator as well. Sheriff Prator took a stand in 2019 and sent a complaint to
Louisiana State Secretary James Leblanc expressing his concerns about the negligence of allowing
Watkins back on the street. We have a copy of this letter that addresses the 21 times Watkins was
arrested prior to the murder of Heather and Kelly. Sheriff Prator stated, “It appears that of the 36
criminal charges, one-third were dismissed or reduced by prosecutors.”
Louisiana State Senator Barrow Peacock also sent a letter to Secretary James Leblanc in
which he stated, “I request of you to answer what needs to be done to make the entire criminal
justice system work and detail what is currently not working so we do not face again the horrific
type of crime that was committed here in Shreveport by someone, who in my opinion, should
NOT have been free to walk the streets given the crimes he had committed.”
How is this acceptable? Why is this lack of ethics and a failure to pursue justice for victims
even allowed? Doesn’t the state of Louisiana deserve better? Don’t the people deserve better?
 WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR:
We are asking that the DA’s office do the right thing. We are asking for your support
against injustice. NO MORE EXCUSES!! If it were your loved ones who were brutally murdered,
how would you feel? Would you stand by and allow the District Attorney to take the easy way out
instead of doing his job? Would you ignore the knowledge that the District Attorney dismissed
multiple cases against Watkins and gave him plea deal after plea deal, to the point of prosecutorial
negligence? Our answer is no. It is our family who was murdered, and we won’t stand silently
by while injustice is ignored. But we can’t do this alone.
Please help us. Please contact District Attorney James Stewart and Special Prosecutor Bill
Edwards and ask them to do the right thing. Take a stand with Heather’s family and demand
justice! Please help us prevent this type of negligent conduct from happening again. Thank you.
Respectfully,

-The family of Heather Jose

District Attorney James Stewart Special Prosecutor Bill Edwards

jstewart@caddoda.com bedwards@caddoda.com

(318) 226-6826 (318) 226-6826