Mystery tip led cops to Cayce, SC hiding place of NC man wanted in death of mother of 5
A North Carolina murder suspect is in a South Carolina jail after a day-long manhunt by nine police agencies and a tip led police to the Midlands.
Police arrested Byron Blair Watkins around 1 a.m. Friday in Lexington County. Watkins’ arrest came after police forces in two states, including the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, searched for him.
Watkins, 25, was wanted in connection with the July 12 killing of Lucero Sosa Capote, a mother of five, in Monroe, North Carolina. Police said Watkins and an accomplice broke into Captoe’s home looking to rob the place. Watkins shot her during an altercation, investigators said. The suspect also caused minor injuries to two of Capote’s children, according to police.
Thursday, reports of gunfire at a Lancaster County house near the states’ border sent Union County Sheriff’s Office of North Carolina and the Monroe Police Department into South Carolina. The house was connected with Watkins, police said.
Lancaster deputies and SLED agents responded to shots fired. A hunt for Watkins was started by the four agencies in the areas around Highway 200 near the state line. Union County deputies said Watkins was “armed and extremely dangerous” and urged people to call police if they saw him.
U.S. Marshals in South Carolina shored up the search force.
Watkins alleged accomplice, 19-year-old Antwan David Sturdivant, turned himself in Wednesday, deputies in Union County, NC said. Sturdivant is charged with first degree murder, robbery, assault and burglary.
Interviews with people connected to Watkins and a confidential informant provided the tip U.S. Marshals in South Carolina needed to find Watkins, according to Karrie Holden, spokesperson for U.S. Marshals in South Carolina. Watkins was in Lexington County, Marshals learned.
Sheriff’s offices in Richland and Orangeburg counties as well as the Columbia Police Department were asked to be on the look out for Watkins.
The investigation led to a house in Cayce on Congaree Road, Holden said, where Watkins was staying in a camper behind the home. Marshals and deputies surrounded the camper and called out for Watkins to surrender. He surrendered to authorities without a fight, Holden said. A Lexington deputy who’s part of the Marshals fugitive task force handcuffed Watkins.
Watkins will be charged with with first degree murder, burglary, robbery, assault on a child under 12, and gun offenses. He has a previous felony conviction, police said.
After Watkins was in handcuffs he asked for a cigarette, according to Holden.
“This was a good grab for our agency and the agencies that were involved,” she said.
A fundraiser for Lucero Sosa Capote was set up to help her family with living expenses.
This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 11:32 AM.