NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – Detectives questioned Carl Watts about his wife’s murder on Sunday in Miami-Dade County. He was also a person of interest in the 2014 disappearance of the mother of his son who lived in Broward County.
Trukita Scott has been missing since June 25, 2014. The 24-year-old mother of two was last seen in Miami Gardens. Her 2007 Nissan Altima was abandoned in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood. Scott’s daughter was three and her son with Watts was 12 months old at the time.
More than seven years later, they have yet to see their mother. Watts, 45, who is at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Monday, was never arrested for Scott’s disappearance. He is facing charges for the murder of Shandell Harris.
On Saturday, Watts was accused of stabbing Harris six times in Miami. Officers said he fled. A day later, Watts offered Harris money to drop the charges on the stabbing, and when she refused, he fatally shot her in public, according to the arrest report. She was 30 years old.
Harris died at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center, at 18900 NE 25th Ave. Watts shot her during her daughter’s swimming lesson, police said. The convicted felon allegedly stood over her in the pool area after she collapsed and continued shooting until he ran out of cartridges, police said.
Watts took off running shortly after 2 p.m., but a private security guard held him at gunpoint until officers arrived, police said. Harris’s daughter, who was learning how to swim at the JCC during the murder, was born out of a prior relationship, police said.
Harris and Watts did not have children together.
Criminal record
Watts had a history of drug trafficking, prostitution, grand theft, armed robbery, and possession of stolen property in the 1990s in Miami-Dade County.
In 2003, officers accused him of organized fraud, grand theft, and depositing checks with intent to defraud. After his conviction, Watts was in prison from Feb. 4, 2004, to July 2, 2005, when he escaped, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Watts was back in custody on April 10, 2006, and corrections officers released him on July 22, 2007, FDOC records show. In December 2007, he was arrested for kidnapping and assault.
In 2017, Watts was accused of attempting to kidnap an 18-year-old woman at a bus stop in Fort Lauderdale. His most recent arrest in Miami-Dade had been for gambling in 2017.
Watts is facing a charge of second-degree murder with a weapon and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He appeared in court on Monday. Corrections officers were holding him without bond.
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