Photo from this morning after escaped fugitive Curtis Ray Watson was captured in Tennessee. (Photo courtesy of the TBI.)
***UPDATE*** HENNING, Tenn. (8/11/19) — The Tennesee Bureau of Investigation has confirmed Curtis Ray Watson has been captured and is in police custody. He was captured in Tennesee.
(Editor’s Note: While Henning, Tennessee, isn’t a close neighbor to Ohio County, the Ohio County Monitor wanted Ohio County residents to be aware, especially if traveling to western or southern Kentucky.)
HENNING, Tenn. — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued a Statewide Tennessee Blue Alert for Curtis Ray Watson.
Watson, 44, is listed as a person of interest in the murder of a Tennessee Department of Correction employee yesterday and is an escapee from the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning.
Watson is 5’11”, 140 lbs, brown eyes, long gray beard. Watson has a variety of tattoos across his body.
This is the third time a Blue Alert has been issued in the history of the program, which dates back to 2011. The program uses the statewide infrastructure of the existing AMBER Alert system to push out critical information to the public to assist in apprehending violent criminals who kill or seriously injure law enforcement officers in the line of duty or to aid in locating a missing officer where foul play is involved.
Watson is serving a 15-year sentence on a conviction of especially aggravated kidnapping out of Henry County. His sentence began in 2013 and was set to expire in 2025.
Watson should be considered extremely dangerous. If you see him call 911.
Curtis Watson, most recent mugshot. (Mugshot courtesy of Tennessee Department of Corrections.)