Joseph Wert, 21, who is charged with first degree murder in the Jan. 14 shooting death of Larry Gene Watkins, Jr., 46, is still incarcerated in the Carroll County Jail, unable to make bond.
Carroll County General Sessions Judge Larry Logan set a bond for Wert at $100,000 or $75,000 house arrest with an ankle monitor during a Jan. 29 bond hearing.
A March 27 preliminary hearing has been set for Wert in General Sessions Court.
Wert’s attorney, Joe H. Byrd, Jr. of Jackson, had asked for a $25,000 bond, but Logan denied that amount due to the seriousness of the crime.
The Carroll County Sheriff’s Department received a call at 4:56 p.m. from Wert’s mother, Susan Yatzun, advising there had been a shooting at 660 Moss Creek Road where Wert lived. He resided there with his mother and father.
According to Carroll County Sheriff Andy Dickson, Watkins was shot twice, once in the neck and once in the chest with a six-shot revolver.
Wert and Watkins had been together the day of the shooting, Dickson said. Wert was employed by Watkins, who owned a mobile home repair service. The two were neighbors as Watkins resided at 130 Moss Creek Road, less than a half mile away from Wert.
Byrd said in the bond hearing that Wert had a clean record.
“He’s never been arrested and has no history of violence,” said Byrd. “He’s not even had a traffic citation.”
Wert graduated from a New Jersey high school, but in his younger years he attended St. Mary’s Catholic School and Trinity Christian School in Jackson. He had also been a student at Rutger’s University in New Brunswick, New Jersey for a year.
Byrd indicated that self defense would probably be used as a defense for Wert.
The attorney said that two weeks prior to the murder that Watkins had been in an altercation with Wert, and had put a hole in Wert’s lip and knocked some teeth loose.
Watkins was prohibited to own a firearm, according to Byrd.
Prior to the shooting, Byrd said Watkins was charging up a hill near Wert’s residence and had a 9 mm pistol with Wert telling him to stop.
Assistant District Attorney James Webb pointed out during the hearing that it was almost an hour after the shooting before a call was made to authorities. He also said Wert would not give law enforcement his social security number. However, Byrd said Wert did not know the number and wouldn’t know it now if he were asked.
Watkins had served time in Carroll County Jail last year on charges of reckless endangerment and unlawful possession of a weapon in an incident that involved his wife, Brittany Watkins, that put her in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury.
Brittany Watkins, who divorced Watkins last year, and Wert were believed to be in a relationship, according to her Facebook page that shows them together.
