On a Sunday in October 2022, police in Trumann, Arkansas, found Bobby Watson Jr. suffering from a gunshot wound to the neck. He survived the initial attack but died in June 2023 after fighting for eight months; the autopsy listed the gunshot wound as the direct cause of death and the case was classified as a homicide.

Investigators linked the shooting to 34-year-old Andrew Kirk of Weiner, and Poinsett County deputies arrested him, originally charging him with first-degree battery. After Watson’s death and receipt of the autopsy results, the prosecutor’s office upgraded the charge to first-degree murder. Days before trial, Kirk pleaded guilty to second-degree murder; a Second Circuit Judge accepted the plea and sentenced him to 20 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

Two other men, Tony Wayne Wheeler and Raymond Warden, were also expected to face charges related to the murder. If anyone knew Bobby Watson or has information about the October 2022 attack, please come forward.