On the evening of April 15, in South Bend Indiana, Tim Watson had just returned home from dinner and a movie. His two daughters, ages 3 and 13, and his 10 year old niece were with him. Watson's younger daughter needed to use the restroom, so they went inside their home. They were being watched.
When they came back outside,
Terry Fennessee confronted Tim Watson, accusing him of having a relationship with his estranged wife. Watson asked to put the children in his car before speaking with Fennesee. Then, he turned his back on the man.
Fennesee pulled a gun and shot Watson in the back. Watson fell to the ground, and his assailant stood over him, aiming the firearm at his head. Watson pleaded with Fennesee, "Don't kill me in front of my babies!"
His three year old daughter was crying "He shooting my daddy! My daddy dead!" Fennesee responded with obscenities and shot Tim Watson again and again, in the head, back and chest.
Fennessee later told his sister, Tina Clump, that the shooting was in self-defense and that he fired at Watson because he believed the man was reaching for a gun in his vehicle. Police found no weapon in Watson's car. Fennesee is charged with one count of attempted murder, a Class A felony. At a court appearance last month, Fennessee told a reporter that he never meant to hurt anyone and that he was innocent of the charges against him. He posted $7,500 bond the same day he turned himself in at the St. Joseph County Jail.
Fennesee is presently free on bond. Watson is gradually recovering from gunshot wounds to his back, shoulder, rib cage, head and the side of his chest. He has sustained nerve damage and brain damage. He still carries a bullet lodged in his lung. Watson's children have suffered untold mental trauma.
Tim Watson is in hiding, fearing for his safety. Apparently, a trial date is set.
This felonious and vicious attack raises several curiosities.
How was Fennessee able to claim self defense and post bond when he was on Watson's property, apparently lying in wait, and Watson had no means of self defense? Hell, Watson was shot in the back, and then again and again as he writhed and pleaded on the ground, in his own blood. While children watched and screamed. Witnesses attest to this fact. Why the hell was Fennesee allowed to turn himself in at the St. Joseph County Jail? Don't officers of the law still form manhunts? Or does that just occur when a fellow officer is shot? Seven thousand five hundred dollars bond? Was this judge smoking something? Finally, why the hell must Tim Watson and his children hide in fear while their rabid attacker walks free? Why is this son of a bitch free at all? Why?
By God, I'm glad I still live in a place where peace officers still have dogs and shotguns! This, this is why I carry a gun.
Labels: Injustice, Self Defense, Shootings, Terry Fennessee, WTF?
The killer of a father, who murdered the unarmed man in front of his children, is back in jail. While out on $7,500 bond for the slaying of Tim Watson, Terry Fennessee was arrested and charged with two unrelated drug offenses in Cass and St. Joseph counties, Indiana. In Cass County, he posted $30,000 with the help of a bondsman and in St. Joseph he posted $3,000 cash. Judge Jane Woodward Miller revoked his bond.
