In what was meant to be a happy surprise, 50-year-old Kelvin Watford of Willingboro, New Jersey, lost his life on the night of Thursday, November 17, 2016. The male victim had been returning from a trip and decided to pay an unannounced visit to a female friend at her home on Genesee Street in Hamilton Township, a suburb of Trenton. In a tragic turn of events, the friendly gesture would end in his death.
Watford was on the phone with his friend as he approached her residence, though he
led her to believe he was not in the immediate area. As they spoke, the woman became alarmed by the sound of her dog barking and other noises coming from outside her house. Fearing a potential home invasion, she armed herself with a handgun. The noises persisted, and she soon heard someone inside her home. Still on the phone with Watford, she cautiously opened her bedroom door.
In the dimly lit stairwell, she perceived a shadowy figure, and believing it to be an intruder, she fired a single shot. The bullet struck the figure in the chest. It was only after firing the weapon that the woman made the devastating discovery that the person she had shot was her friend, Kelvin Watford. She immediately called 911, initially reporting that she had shot an intruder before realizing her fatal mistake.
When police arrived at the scene, they found Watford at the bottom of the stairs with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office investigated the shooting but ultimately deemed it to be a tragic accident. As a result, no charges were filed against the female friend.
