Family remembers Watkins as a devoted mother and a person with a very big heart. Watkins was one of the two victims in a double-homicide on Fresno. Police say the shooter was the father of her child, who committed suicide after the murders.
Dozens of candlelight's flickered in the dark as family and friends said prayers for Watkins, the victim of a tragedy, remembered as a woman and a mother, taken before her time.
"The way it happened, she didn't deserve it. This is someone you'd think that would've died of natural causes, things like that, you couldn't explain it," Watkins cousin Erica Murphy.
Investigators say that 50-year-old Anthony Jackson killed Watkins in her apartment on Sept. 13. Watkins was the mother of Jackson's daughter. They say Jackson later confronted his neighbor, Jerome Dixon, killed him, and then killed himself. Police say Jackson may have believed the victims were involved in a relationship, but have not been able to confirm that theory.
Sunday night, friends and family weren't focused on Watkins death; they were focused on her life.
"There's a lot to remember about her. Her laugh, her nonchalance's, her ability to make anyone happy," Deonah Ray Watkins, cousin said.
Family members said Watkins worked hard at the IRS to support her three children.
"She loved her children. She went to work every day faithfully, she made sure her children had everything they needed," Erica Murphy.
Watkins kids are in the care of family members.
"I know a lot of people say she was a good person, but she really was a good person. She really is and she is going to be missed," Deonah Ray said.
Family members are raising funds to help for her funeral scheduled for Monday, Sept. 30.
