Jury Convicts 24-Year-Old Flint Man in 2011 Homicide

Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced a jury returned a guilty verdict on Friday in the 2011 murder of 27-year-old Sunta Newman of Flint.

Twenty-four-year-old Antonio Demond Watkins of Flint was found guilty of four counts including Second Degree Murder, Carrying a Concealed Weapon, Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Felony Firearm in connection with the shooting death of Newman in August 2011 outside a gas station on North Saginaw Street.

Testimony at the trial revealed that Newman and Watkins knew each other and had gotten into an argument outside the gas station over a video game console that Newman had previously sold to Williams. A witness who was with Newman at the time testified that as Newman started back towards the car, Watkins pulled a gun. The witness testified he ducked out of the way and then heard four gunshots. When the gunfire ended, the witness said Watkins was gone and Newman lay dying in the parking lot from a gunshot wound to the head. Watkins was taken to Hurley Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

In a statement Leyton said "once again, senseless violence has gunned down a young man in our community and another is on his way to prison for a very long time. It is a real tragedy and there are certainly no winners, but I am pleased justice has been served by the jury's verdict."