In the summer of July 2020, the life of 16-year-old Christopher Watson was tragically cut short in a hail of gunfire in Gary, Indiana. The young man was outside a residence with a 56-year-old man and a female relative, in the process of moving a treadmill into a vehicle, when the attack occurred. This was not a random act of violence, but rather a targeted assault rooted in a cycle of retaliation.
The family had been receiving death threats and were in the process of moving to safety
when the shooting took place. The threats stemmed from a double homicide that had occurred in May of that year. In that earlier incident, Xavier Watson and another individual were charged with the shooting deaths of 19-year-old Trevion Hudnell and 21-year-old Phillip Phillips. However, the charges against Xavier Watson and the other man were dropped after they claimed self-defense in an attempted robbery.
This decision did not sit well with the family of one of the deceased. In an act of alleged retribution, three individuals from Gary decided to target Xavier Watson's family. In March 2021, authorities announced the arrests of 19-year-old Devonte T. Phillips, 18-year-old Thaddeus S. McWilliams, and 17-year-old Christian I. Nelson. Devonte Phillips was the younger brother of Phillip Phillips, who was killed in the May shooting.
The three were charged with one count of murder for the fatal shooting of Christopher Watson and two counts of attempted murder for the wounding of the 56-year-old man who was with him. Their initial court hearings were scheduled following their arrests, bringing the first step towards justice for the untimely death of a teenager caught in a devastating feud.
