Carl Watts Jr. Charged In Deadly Shooting Of His Wife Shandell Harris At North Miami Beach Jewish Community Center
NORTH MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – Miami-Dade police have released the name of the man they say shot and killed his wife at a North Miami Beach Jewish community center over the weekend.
Carl Watts Jr. has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Shandell Harris.
According to police, Watts had stabbed Harris on Saturday. She reported it to Miami police.
Harris family she went to the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center on Sunday with her 12-year-old daughter and her mother for the girl's swimming lessons.
Watts arrived at the center and, according to police, offered Harris money to drop the charges against him for. She refused and asked him to leave.
Witnesses at the pool say they heard five gunshots and saw a man chasing a woman.
"I saw the shooter running after somebody with the gun. We heard a big boom," a witness said. "My granddaughter was in the pool for a swimming lesson, and I looked up and saw the shooter with my own eyes chasing after somebody with a handgun. Then we just ran. We ran and we hid."
According to police, Watts shot Harris multiple times. When she collapsed, he reportedly stood over her and continued to shoot her until he ran out of ammunition. He fled but was detained by private security at gunpoint.
"He followed here, chased her down and shot her like an animal. Like he was hunting," says Aaron Batten, a family member.
Police say they were trying to find Watts and arrest him for the stabbing, but they were too late.
"The actual presence of a firearm in the home sees the risk of homicide domestic violence cases go up by 500%. So, I'm not at all shocked that weapons had been used and ultimately were the thing that sadly ended up taking this woman's life," says Patrick DeCarlo, a licensed marriage and family therapist.
Harris' family said she had aspirations of being a Miami-Dade commissioner and was a great mother.
"Everything was for her child and for her marriage. She was a happy person, she didn't deserve this at all," a family member said.
On Monday, Watts appeared in court with his hands cuffed in front of him. He said nothing as a judge upped the homicide charge he's facing.
"Why isn't it first degree? He went there to the JCC with a gun. Guns aren't allowed at the JCC. And then he shot the victim multiple times," says Judge Mindy Glazer.
The 45-year-old has an extensive criminal background. He's a person of interest in the mysterious disappearance of Trukita Scott, a Fort Lauderdale woman who shares a child with Watts. Fort Lauderdale Police are asking anyone with information this 2014 case to come forward.
