On the night of May 25, 2025, 37-year-old Karen Yvonne Watkins was shot in the area of 27th Street and Wickham Avenue in Newport News, Virginia. A ShotSpotter activation and reports of about three gunshots led police to the scene just before 11:30 p.m.; neighbors said a car sped away afterward. Watkins was taken to a hospital but succumbed to at least one gunshot wound.

Watkins was a mother to two sons and a daughter; those who knew her remembered her kindness, warm smile, and genuine spirit. Her death was recorded as the city’s ninth homicide of 2025. On June 14, 2025, Newport News police arrested 29-year-old Benjamin Forrest Carter of Newport News and charged him with first-degree murder and multiple weapons offenses. Authorities have not released a motive.

Does anyone in the Newport News area have information about Watkins, the shooting, or the vehicle heard leaving the scene?