Guilty plea in shooting of Pittsburgh teen killed in school van
I originally posted about the murder of Marquis Campbell here, but I’ll provide a quick recap.
In January 2022, Marquis Campbell was 15-years-old and was attending his first day at Oliver Citywide Academy in Pittsburgh after remote learning was lifted. After classes were dismissed, Marquis was waiting to go home in a school van when two individuals approached the vehicle. One of the individuals fired into the van, striking Marquis in the chest twice. Marquis later died at the hospital, where his family couldn’t even be with him due to COVID protocols.
The two suspects remained at large until April of this year. At that time, two brothers, 18-year-old Eugene Watson, and 17-year-old Brandon Watson, were arrested and charged with Marquis’ murder. Due to security footage of the shooting, police were aware of the Watson brothers early in the investigation. Police were said to have plenty of witness testimony and physical evidence connecting the brothers to the shooting. I assume the arrest took more than a year while investigators waited for the DNA test results, but that’s just me speculating.
The motive behind the shooting is said to be that Marquis would get into fights with the brothers over “words exchanged involving friends and family who were murdered.” So, this required an execution? Jesus Christ, we as a society in this country, have lost the thread if this is how people react to what is essentially getting their feelings hurt.
Now, before some of you rush off to leave a racist comment, let me stop you right there. Yes, this happened in the inner city of Pittsburgh. Yes, both the suspect and victim are Black, but don’t you dare say this is a ‘Black thing’.
The cowardly gun culture in America has permeated all ethnic populations in America. But before you say this a Black thing, how many Whites have shot someone over minor transgressions? A lot, and they’re usually armed with a rifle that can fire 30 rounds in under a minute.
Speaking of guns, completely lost in this story is where did the shooter get his gun from? In Pennsylvania, you have to be 21 to legally purchase a handgun. Eugene Watson was only 18 at the time of the shooting. Even if he got it off the streets, it did at one time belong to a ‘responsible gun owner™’.
However, I’m burying the lede. Security footage determined that the older Watson brother, Eugene, was the actual shooter. Last week, he pleaded guilty to third-degree murder. He’s looking at a possible sentence of 40 years behind bars when he is set to be sentenced in January.
Brandon Watson, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was initially charged as an adult. However, the adult charges were withdrawn, and the younger Watson was adjudicated in juvenile court on a charge of conspiracy to commit third-degree murder. I have yet to see any news about any potential sentence he may have received.
If you’re a parent with guns in the home, I ask that you get rid of them before you’re sitting in court, where your child is either a victim or a defendant.
(Sources)
