An Alabama woman has been arrested and charged with resisting her son’s arrest after he attempted to flee the scene where he purposefully ran into a detective’s vehicle.
On Thursday, Shranda Watkins was at the scene when her son, Marcus Ja’Vell Watkins, tried running away from the scene of a crime he had just committed, according to Russell County Sheriff’s Office (RCSO).
The son initially struck the investigator’s vehicle after he was stopped by police. He then fled. The suspect was taken into custody, but not before his mother attempted to intervene. While attempting to resist her son’s arrest, she, too, was arrested.
Marcus Watkins has been charged with possession of marijuana, attempted assault on law enforcement, attempting to elude by motor vehicle and reckless endangerment, police say. Meanwhile, his mother has been charged with resisting arrest.
News of mothers protecting their sons under vehicular circumstances (whether or not wrongdoing is involved) has been in the news more than once.
In March, a single mother of six was instantly killed after a reckless driver ran her over, then fled the scene in a Brooklyn crash. The pain has been “indescribable,” according to Tamika Richards’ loved one who now mourns her family and friend who was taken away way too soon. One of the victim’s sons was also injured in the hit-and-run and remains in critical condition.
“They took my mother, my younger sisters have to grow up without a parent now,” said Shatalyah Parker, the victim’s oldest daughter told ABC7. “Just turn yourself in. You hurt a lot of people.”
Richards was 41 years old at the time of her passing. Family say she leaves behind several dozens family members and friends, many of whom were unable to kiss her goodbye before her unexpected passing.
“She was amazing, she was a warrior, she was a soldier,” Donnell Folks, Richards’ brother, said.
Family say Richards died a hero. During the incident, she attempted to shield one of her sons from the driver who would eventually take her life and leave her 18-year-old son Rayquan Parker in the hospital, according to her family.
“She would do anything for anybody,” Richard’s father Donald Folks recalls. “She would give you her last. That’s the type of person she was.”
Authorities are still investigating the matter, but have revealed that the driver barreled into Richards and her son as they were on Mermaid Avenue at West 24th Street on Coney Island Friday.
