MACON, Ga. — A Georgia man who was 16 years old when he choked his sister until she died over an argument over the family's Wi-Fi password was sentenced to life in prison.
Testimony during Kevon Watkins' trial said he was angry in February 2018 when he came home from school and changed his family's Wi-Fi password because sharing the connection made it too slow on his Xbox.
Alexus Watkins, 19, argued with her brother after he confronted their mother as she tried to take the video game system out of his room, according to testimony at the teen's trial and 911 calls the day of the killing.
Kevon Watkins put his sister in a chokehold and didn't let go for more than 10 minutes until police arrived, according to testimony reported by The Macon Telegraph.
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Kevon Watkins' lawyer asked for a bench trial, and Bibb County Superior Court Judge Verda Colvin said she found him guilty of murder instead of voluntary manslaughter because his 13-year-old brother tried to get him to stop choking their sister.
"In those 10 minutes, she had to have stopped moving. Perhaps that wasn't noticed by the defendant because he was still angry," Colvin said.
Kevon Watkins cried along with his family sitting on courtroom benches after the sentence was announced.
He was given a chance to speak before being led out of the courtroom, but the only thing that could be understood through his tears was "I'm sorry."
"I think everyone understands," the judge said. "Including this court."
Kevon Watkins told an investigator he and his sister argued nearly every day, and Colvin said before she handed down her sentence that she was sorry the adults in his life let him down and never disciplined him or gave him the tools to deal with his anger.
"In this household, chaos was empowered," Colvin said. "In this household, the ability to ignore and follow corrective discipline was empowered."
Associated Press
