Roderick Lynn Thumper Watkins Jr., 23, was ambushed and fatally shot in Atmore, Alabama around 2:30 a.m. on September 24, 2019. He had just returned from his job as a machine operator at Swift Lumber Co. and was preparing to change into gym clothes when a lone gunman opened fire on his Nissan Altima on Jimbos Road. Responding officers found Watkins beside his car with several shell casings nearby and a shattered back passenger window; the engine was still running.

Neighbors and family recall dogs barking shortly after midnight and then the sound of seven to ten gunshots about two hours later. Watkins’ mother, Debra Brooks, said she saw someone hiding in the bushes by her son’s car who fled after she came outside; she told investigators she believed the shooting was all over a girl. Authorities treated the attack as targeted and quickly identified a person of interest.

On September 30, 2019, Anthony Jerome English, 23, of Atmore, was arrested in Monroeville and charged with Watkins’ murder; he was taken to the Escambia County Detention Center to await a bond hearing. Watkins, a 2015 graduate of Escambia County High School, was remembered by family and friends. If anyone knew Watkins, his movements that night, or has information about the ambush, please share what is known.