In a tragic turn of events on a Monday evening in Jackson, Mississippi, a simple act of kindness cost a beloved pastor his life. Anthony Watts, a 61-year-old male, was driving along Interstate 55 when he noticed a man who appeared to have been in a motorcycle accident. A Good Samaritan, Watts pulled his vehicle over to the side of the road to offer assistance to the seemingly stranded motorist. However, the man he was trying to help had a sinister agenda.
Instead of accepting the offered aid, the individual on the roadside shot the pastor multiple times, leaving him for dead and stealing his red Dodge Ram pickup truck.
The man who so callously took a life in exchange for a helping hand was later identified by authorities as 22-year-old Dylan Arrington. It was soon discovered that Arrington was not just a random criminal, but one of four inmates who had recently escaped from the nearby Raymond Detention Center. At the time of his escape, Arrington had been incarcerated on charges of auto theft and illegal possession of a firearm. The brazen murder of Pastor Watts escalated the manhunt for the escaped convicts, with law enforcement agencies across the state on high alert.
The search for Dylan Arrington came to a dramatic and fiery end just two days after the murder of Anthony Watts. Law enforcement officers tracked the fugitive to a residence. A standoff ensued between Arrington and the police, which ultimately resulted in the house catching fire. When the flames were finally extinguished, Dylan Arrington was found deceased inside. His death brought a swift, if not conventionally just, end to the brief and violent crime spree that followed his escape from custody. For the family and congregation of Pastor Anthony Watts, the tragic loss of a man who lived to help others, and died doing just that, left a wound that would not be so easily healed.
