First Seven Witnesses Testify in Trial of Man Who Killed TPD Investigator in 2019

Seven witnesses testified Monday during the first full day of the murder trial of Luther Bernard Watkins, who fatally shot a Tuscaloosa Police Officer in 2019.

After a full five days of jury selection last week and opening statements Monday morning, prosecutors led by District Attorney Hays Webb and his chief assistant Paula Whitley Abernathy began interviewing the witnesses they believe will help convict Watkins of capital murder.

Though Watkins and his defense team do not deny that he fatally shot TPD Investigator Dornell Cousette, they claim it was an act of self-defense.

No electronic devices are being allowed inside Judge Brad Almond's courtroom for the duration of the trial, so the reporting below is done without the benefit of a transcript.

Get our free mobile app

Though some witnesses' testimony lasted longer or carried more weight than others, we will report them chronologically, starting with the first witness called, Sonya Barger, a recently retired secretary who worked for the Tuscaloosa Police Department for 33 years.

Secretary Sonya Barger

Barger testified that on September 16th, 2019, when Cousette was shot and killed, he was working throughout the morning as a school resource officer at a city school. It has previously been reported that when Cousette attempted to apprehend Luther Watkins on four outstanding felony warrants, he had completed his SRO shift and was off-duty.

Barger said that isn't accurate - she testified that Cousette had worked as an SRO that morning but then stayed on duty for an evening shift in his role as an investigator within TPD's Juvenile Division, essentially working a double.

She testified that she is certain she saw Cousette on the day he died and that he was staying on for an evening investigative shift working from 4 p.m. to midnight.

Barger was dismissed after a short cross-examination by the defense.

Dispatcher Tiffany Morrison

Next, the State called Tiffany Morrison, a long-time dispatcher for the city of Tuscaloosa.

She testified that she works at six computer monitors, tracking the real-time locations of available assets, and dispatches police, firefighters, and EMTs to scenes across the city as they're called in.

She said on the evening of the shooting, after Cousette reportedly switched roles to his juvenile investigative duties, he called her to ask if there were any available units on the west side.

A recording of that call was played in the courtroom, and Morrison was heard saying "absolutely no one" was available. She also said there were three places in the West End that evening where calls for police help had been made, but no units had yet been sent.

Cousette then asked her who was supervising that night, and she told him Sgt. Jason Hallman and Sgt. Bobby Windham were available.

Cousette and bail bondsman Ed Giles were headed to apprehend Luther Watkins at a home where he'd been spotted on 33rd Avenue in West Tuscaloosa, but he did not mention that to Morrison.

Morrison said Cousette never asked her for backup, just if any units were available.

Lt. Bobby Windham

Windham, now a Lieutenant within the multi-agency West Alabama Narcotics Task Force, testified that Cousette called him just after he got off the phone with dispatch.

Windham said he and Cousette grew up in the same town, attended the same schools and after splitting up after high school to serve in different branches of the military, they eventually both wound up working for the Tuscaloosa Police Department.

They were personal friends as well as professional colleagues, and Windham said he regularly got calls from Cousette asking for backup when making an arrest. Windham was injured, though - he testified that he tore an ACL chasing after a fleeing suspect two months before that September 2019 call from Cousette.

Windham said he told Cousette that, because Watkins was reportedly with a group of at least three other people and no help was available, they agreed "he should not go, he should wait."

Windham then gave somewhat confusing testimony about whether that agreement qualified as friendly advice or orders from a supervisor. 

Windham told DA Hays Webb that because they worked in different divisions, he had no authority to "order" Cousette not to try to apprehend Watkins.

In later testimony, though, Windham said if Cousette had successfully arrested Watkins even after being advised not to, he would not have been disciplined for doing so.

When defense attorneys pressed him about the seeming contradiction, Windham testified that, although he had no authority to issue Cousette an order, he was the supervisor who would have determined whether Cousette's actions warranted in-department discipline.

Windham testified he was not surprised that Investigator Cousette chose to pursue Watkins despite their talk.

"He was going to do his job," Windham testified, and he told Webb that any supervisor would have "expected" Cousette to do so.

Bail Bondsman Ed Giles

After a recess for lunch, the state called bail bondsman Ed Giles to the stand for what would be the longest and most interesting testimony of the day.

Giles runs his own business, Bail Bonds Express, and told the jury that he pays to help people get out of jail. If they break the rules, he sometimes has to go get them and bring them back.

On the night of the shooting, Luther Watkins was wanted on felony charges and reportedly in violation of a bond agreement with another man, Napoleon McEwen, who runs ABS Best Bail Bonding Co., Inc.

Giles testified that McEwen had reached out to him, asking him to be on the lookout for Luther Watkins. Giles said McEwen is a competitor, not his employer, but he would have paid Giles if they'd succeeded in arresting Watkins.

The bail bondsman said he'd run into Cousette at the Tuscaloosa County Jail on Friday, September 13th, 2019, three days before the fatal shooting. They discussed another case - Giles said Cousette asked for help tracking down an incest suspect, and the two started talking about other persons of interest, including Luther Bernard Watkins. They agreed to contact one another if either man located Watkins and went their separate ways for the weekend.

Giles said he got a tip over the weekend about a house on 33rd Avenue where Watkins hung out and drove by at about 10 a.m. Monday. He spotted the 20-year-old Luther Watkins there, and later that day, he and Cousette agreed to make the arrest if possible.

They met at Westlawn Middle School on Martin Luther King Boulevard, and Giles said that although he didn't have an address for the house, he could drive by there with Cousette and show it to him.

Cousette made calls to Morrison and Windham and learned there was no backup. In 2019, Giles said Cousette told him something like, "Fuck it, let's go," and they left the school together, with Giles leading the way.

Giles testified that he slowed down to point out a west Tuscaloosa home where a relative of Watkins was rumored to live, perhaps his grandmother, when Cousette passed him and got in the lead on the way to the house on 33rd Avenue.

Although they had agreed to just drive by, Giles said Cousette surprised him by stopping his unmarked Ford Taurus and getting out to arrest Watkins.

Giles said he heard Cousette say something like "Luther, don't you run!" before Watkins bolted from the table where he'd been playing cards and ran inside. Cousette lit out after him and chased him inside, and Giles said three gunshots rang out before the bailbondsman even made it to the fence of the home.

An obviously emotional Giles described seeing Cousette stagger into the doorway and collapse before Watkins stepped over him and ran out the back door of the home. Giles, armed only with a nonlethal Taser, said he did not try to apprehend Watkins after hearing gunshots and instead called for help.

The jury heard a recording of his call to TPD dispatch for help - the emotional impact on Cousette's family and Giles alike was evident as they listened.

Defense attorney Justin Forrester spent a long time cross-examining Giles, who admitted on several occasions to giving contradictory testimony.

He said in a 2019 preliminary hearing that he did not know Cousette before that night, but testified on Monday that that was not true and he made the claim because he was confused and nervous in the aftermath of the shooting.

Giles has previously testified that Cousette got out of his car with his Glock 17 drawn and pointed at Watkins, but testified Monday that he could have actually been pointing a finger, not a handgun.

Giles has previously testified that the duo drove by the house on 33rd Avenue once, then circled back a second time when Cousette jumped out. He said on Monday he was "not in his right emotional state of mind" when he said that, and they only drove by the house once.

After a brief redirect from DA Hays Webb, Giles was dismissed from the stand.

TPD Sergeant David Garrison

Next, the state called now-Sergeant David Garrison, who in 2019 was a TPD patrol officer. Garrison was the first officer to arrive at the scene after the gunfight.

Although Cousette was reportedly not wearing a body camera on the evening of the shooting, or his was not functioning, Garrison was.

The jury watched that body camera footage on Monday, several terrible minutes of Garrison begging Cousette to hang on as medical help arrived. Cousette had been shot in the upper lip and was unresponsive - the bullet had reportedly entered but not exited his skull.

The body camera footage showed Cousette choke through labored breaths before paramedics finally arrived and carried him out on a stretcher- it was difficult material for the jury, Cousette's family and the TPD officers and leaders in the gallery.

Garrison also testified that he recovered Cousette's Glock 17 handgun and gave it to the next arriving officer to lock in a police vehicle.

Kenclomisha Hughes

The state's sixth witness was Kenclomisha Hughes, a young woman who lived in Tuscaloosa at the time of the shooting and was friends with Luther Watkins.

She testified that he came through her backyard to the front of her house, suffering from two gunshot wounds, and found Hughes and a friend hanging out in her mother's car.

When Watkins asked for help, Hughes said she gave him a white sheet from inside her home to wrap himself in and drove him to the hospital in Northport, although he originally resisted the idea of seeking medical help.

Hughes said Watkins never told them how he was wounded, and she dropped him off about 80 feet from the emergency room door because she didn't want to get wrapped up with the police over him getting shot.

She also testified that Watkins's handgun was eventually found in a toolbox in her backyard.

CRIME SCENE ANALYST DAVID HANKS

The last witness called on Monday was Deputy David Hanks, a crime scene analyst with the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office.

Prosecutor Paula Whitley Abernathy interviewed Hanks at length about crime scene photos and forensic evidence, but Almond adjourned the trial for the day before the defense cross-examined the analyst, so we'll break out his testimony further on Tuesday.

Court records list about 30 witnesses scheduled to testify in this trial, both for the prosecution and the defense, so testimony is likely to take several more days.

For ongoing daily coverage of the murder trial and other crime and courts news from around West Alabama, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.