2019 Killer of Tuscaloosa Police Officer to Present Self-Defense Case to Judge

The man who killed a Tuscaloosa Police officer more than five years ago will present a case that he did so in self-defense later this month.

As the Thread has extensively reported, Luther Bernard Watkins, Jr. has been in the Tuscaloosa County Jail without bond since September 2019, when he shot and killed TPD investigator Dornell Cousette, who was serving a warrant on the then-20-year-old.

The two exchanged gunfire at a home in west Tuscaloosa. Both were injured, but Cousette did not survive. The wounded Watkins was found quickly, treated medically, then charged with capital murder and placed in the Tuscaloosa County Jail, where he has now been held without bond for more than five years.

Watkins has long claimed that he was acting in self-defense but has never argued it in a hearing before Judge Brad Almond. Defense attorney Jim Standridge filed a motion to argue for pre-trial immunity based on self-defense and Stand Your Ground laws in early 2023, but he retired before Almond held the hearing and progress on the case stalled out.

Now Watkins, represented by Gary L. Blume and Laura Segers Fikes, will finally have that hearing, which is scheduled for February 24th.

In a new motion clarifying their case for self-defense, the attorneys say Officer Cousette was the aggressor throughout their September 2019 interaction, that he fired the first shot of the engagement and struck Watkins in the back, and that Watkins only returned fire as Cousette stood over him to shoot him a second time.

The motion retells the events of the deadly shooting from Watkin's perspective, claiming that he was playing cards with friends outside a house on 33rd Avenue in Tuscaloosa before the gunfight on September 16th, 2019.

Cousette, who was reportedly off-duty at the time, got a tip from bail bondsman Edward Giles Jr. on Watkins's location - the 20-year-old was wanted on outstanding warrants for failure to appear in court.

The defense attorneys say Cousette "decided to attempt to apprehend" Watkins despite being off-duty and called TPD to ask for backup, but was told by both dispatchers and then a shift sergeant that no officers were available and that he should wait until someone could assist him.

"Despite his conversation with Sgt. Windham, Officer Cousette quickly decided to proceed without law enforcement backup," their motion claims.

Cousette reportedly approached the house in an unmarked car and got out with a gun drawn, then chased Watkins into the house as he tried to flee.

"While he was retreating, the Defendant did not pose a significant threat of death or serious injury to Officer Cousette or others," the motion claims. "Officer Cousette fired as he was entering the house. [...] Officer Cousette’s first shot struck the Defendant in the back. As the Defendant fell to the floor, Officer Cousette drew near, pointing his weapon at the Defendant. The Defendant reasonably believed that Officer Cousette was using and intended to continue to use deadly physical force. [...] As Officer Cousette aimed his gun and was about to fire at the Defendant, the Defendant was in the immediate need to defend his life. [...] The Defendant grabbed a gun. Defense counsel surmises that Officer Cousette and the Defendant each fired virtually simultaneously. Officer Cousette’s second shot struck the Defendant in the right chest area. The Defendant’s first shot struck Officer Cousette in the left upper jaw."

"The only shot that the Defendant fired was done with the reasonable expectation that Officer Cousette was about to end his life," the defense attorneys say.

Almond will hear their arguments later this month and could rule Watkins acted in self-defense, granting him immunity from the capital murder charge. Alternatively, he could rule against the self-defense argument and move the case toward a jury trial.

For more coverage of the case as it unfolds, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.