In the early hours of June 15, 2023, the life of a 49-year-old Caucasian woman, Becky Switzer, was irrevocably altered on Eastern Avenue in Waterbury, Connecticut. Around 12:55 a.m., the sound of gunfire prompted a police response. Officers arrived to find Switzer with a grievous gunshot wound to her head. She was rushed to a local hospital, where she fought for her life for several days before ultimately succumbing to her injuries on the night of June 20, 2023.
The Waterbury Police
Department's Major Crime Unit immediately launched an investigation into the fatal shooting. For months, the case progressed without a publicly named suspect, leaving a community searching for answers. The breakthrough came nearly eight months later, on February 6, 2024. On that Tuesday morning, members of the U.S. Marshals Violent Fugitive Task Force located and apprehended 29-year-old Tyjha Ali Watson at a residence on Ash Street in Waterbury.
Authorities allege that Watson was the individual who fired into an apartment on Eastern Avenue on that June morning, the bullet striking Switzer in the head. At the time of his arrest, a. 40 caliber Ruger firearm was recovered from the home, although it was not immediately confirmed to be the weapon used in the shooting. Watson, a resident of Charleston, West Virginia, was already a wanted man, facing a federal drug trafficking indictment since February 2021 with alleged ties to criminal gangs.
In connection with Becky Switzer's death, Watson faces a string of serious state charges, including murder, criminal possession of a firearm, criminal use of a weapon, first-degree reckless endangerment, possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle, and illegal discharge of a weapon. During his apprehension, an associate of Watson's was also taken into custody on an unrelated domestic violence warrant. Watson is expected to face the charges in Connecticut before addressing his outstanding federal charges in West Virginia.
