In the quiet of a late December morning in Little Rock, Arkansas, a devastating discovery shattered the holiday season's calm. Two days after Christmas in 2018, the lives of 2-year-old Ja`Shun Lee Watson and his 23-year-old mother, Jameika Lewis, were tragically cut short. The pair were found lying in the parking lot of the Eagle Points apartment complex, victims of fatal gunshot wounds.
A passerby first noticed them near their car and, assuming they were asleep, attempted to wake them
before the grim reality set in and a call for help was made. When police arrived, they pronounced the young mother and her toddler son deceased at the scene. In a small glimmer of hope amidst the tragedy, Ja`Shun's two-week-old sister was discovered unharmed inside the vehicle nearby.
The senseless deaths of a young mother and her child left their family heartbroken and a community in mourning. In the days that followed, family and friends gathered for a candlelight vigil, their grief palpable as they pleaded for answers and for justice to be served for Jameika and her 'juju,' as Ja'Shun was affectionately nicknamed. His grandmother remembered him as a joyful child who would run through his grandparents' door calling for his 'Paw paw' and 'Mama mama.'
For more than a year, the case remained a painful, open wound for the family. Then, in April 2020, a significant development brought a measure of hope for accountability. The U.S. Marshals Service arrested 28-year-old Jalisa Jenkins in connection with the double homicide. After a persistent investigation by Little Rock Homicide Detectives, arrest warrants were issued, and Jenkins was charged with capital murder and first-degree murder for the deaths of Ja`Shun Lee Watson and Jameika Lewis.
